A giant off the Darß: The ‘Pioneering Spirit’ at the Gennaker construction site

The passage under the Storebælt Bridge took place at around 1 pm on Tuesday. After a Report by Maritime Denmark Two pilots had already come on board at Skagen the previous day. The passage had been coordinated with the Danish authorities, the ship’s operator and traffic control.

Deep beneath the bridge, then shallower again to the south of it

The Ostbrücke has a nominal clearance height of 65 metres. For the 382-metre-long and 124-metre-wide vessel, this height was insufficient when the ship was lightly ballasted. The crew therefore took on ballast water: the vessel sat lower, and its height above the waterline decreased. According to the Danish Pilots’ Organisation DanPilot The cranes were also lowered during this manoeuvre. The draught whilst passing under the bridge was 19.9 metres. The crew then pumped out ballast water for around four hours before the ship continued its journey through the waters to the south.

The ‘Pioneering Spirit’ is a specialised vessel with two separate hulls and an opening at the bow. It is capable of accommodating entire platform superstructures through this opening. Allseas states a lifting capacity of up to 60,000 tonnes for platform superstructures and up to 20,000 tonnes for their substructures. According to Guinness World Records With a gross tonnage of 403,342, it is the largest ship by gross tonnage. Gross tonnage refers to the measured internal volume of the ship, not its weight.

Operation at the Gennaker wind farm off the Darß peninsula

According to Project description by Allseas The ‘Pioneering Spirit’ is to transport and install the Darß and Zingst offshore substation platforms, including their substructures. The facilities form part of the grid connection for the planned Gennaker wind farm, located around 15 kilometres north of the Fischland-Darß-Zingst peninsula. The electricity is to be transmitted to shore via the two platforms and subsea cables. Grid operator 50Hertz estimates the planned connected load at up to 927 megawatts.

As recently as 30 September, the ship was still according to a report in the Ostsee-Zeitung off Warnemünde. According to the latest AIS observation, it has now reached the sea area covered by the Gennaker project. However, the position alone does not confirm either the start of assembly or the activation of a safety zone.

What sailors should bear in mind off the Darß peninsula

For sailing trips off the Darß peninsula, it is not the completion of the bridge construction that is the decisive factor, but the start of the offshore works. A Notice from the Baltic Sea Waterways and Shipping Authority From the start of construction, it provided for safety zones, each with a radius of 500 metres, around the two substation platforms. However, this advance notice is currently marked as invalid in the official system; no current ban on access can be inferred from it alone. Before planning a trip, crews should therefore check the latest notices to mariners, any corrections to their nautical charts and the local markings. A general overview of the rules in existing marine parks is provided by YACHT’s guide to offshore wind farms. Exemptions granted for individual wind farms do not automatically apply to a construction site.

What experiences have you had whilst sailing past offshore construction sites – and what information proved particularly helpful for planning your route?