Westermost Rough Maritime Traffic Surveyrn

Description

This project examines two maritime traffic surveys undertaken by Anatec UK Ltd during 2008 at the site of Westermost Rough offshore wind farm. The first survey was undertaken between the dates 11-25 February 2008 and the second undertaken between July 18th and August 1st 2008. The data was collected using radar, Automatic Identification System (AIS) and visual observations. The primary objective of the survey was to identify the real-time routeing of vessels and the level of vessel activity at the proposed development site. This was achieved by recording in real-time the positions of vessels within the range of the AIS and ARPA radar, supplemented by observation of vessels within visual range to obtain information on type and size where the information was not available from AIS. The report includes charts providing visual representation of the tracks observed. Charts are broken down into vessel types and graphs provide an overview of the vessel type. The second report provides a brief comparison of the survey undertaken during the summer months and the survey undertaken during the winter months. In the study undertaken during the summer months there was a much higher fishing and leisure vessel activity. According to the report this seasonal variation was probably a result of the small size of these vessels as mariners in small vessels prefer good weather to operate.