IALA has created a recommendation for making the correct marking of man-made offshore structures, including wind farms to aid to vessels navigation.
- GeneraL
ID Panel: Each structure should have ID panels visible in all directions with black letters or numbers 1m high on a yellow background (Day/Night).
-Paint Mark: Paint the entire circumference of each wind turbine tower yellow, starting from the level of the Highest Astronomical Tide (HAT) up to 15 meters or up to the height of the Aids to Navigation.
-Another alternative would be to paint horizontal, yellow rings no less than 2 meters high and also no less than 2 meters apart.
-Install lanterns with a flashing white light-transmitting “U” ( • ─) in Morse.
-Other Signals: fog signal with a range of two 2 Nautical miles. Optional Radar beacon (Racon)
- Individual structures
The AtoNs are placed below the turning circumference of the blades and 6 meters above the Highest Astronomical Tide level (HAT).
Lanterns: 3 Lanterns, in white color with a range of 10nm and a rhythm with morse code (U)≤15s.
Communication: AIS.
Buoys: To be recommended to marking the zone.
- Wind farms
-For groups of structures, Offshore Wind Farms (OWF), the marking should distinguish between Significant Peripheral Structures (SPS), defined as significant points at the periphery of the OWF with a distance between them not exceeding 3 nm, and Intermediate Peripheral Structures (IPS) selected on the periphery of the OWF. The distance between IPSs or the nearest SPS should not exceed 2 nm.
-SPS should be marked with flashing yellow lights with a range of 5 nm, with a Special Mark flash character, and with synchronisation (recommended).
-IPS should be marked with flashing yellow lights with a range of 2 nm, and with a different flash character than SPS.
-The lights should be visible from all directions; therefore at least three lanterns should be installed on each structure to be marked to ensure a 360° coverage.
Recommended installations in a wind farm:
- Lighting for all peripheral structures;
- Lighting for all structures within the wind farm;
- Racon
- Fog Horns
- Radar Reflectors
- AIS
MSM has the equipment necessary for marking correctly all the offshore structures. MSM guarantees quality and durability in all its equipment. All ATON equipment are available in our WINDFARM section.