Abstract
The Taiwan Strait, to the west of Taiwan, is rich in wind energy resources and has the greatest offshore wind power potential in the world. Therefore, Taiwan has been actively expanding its offshore wind power industry in this area in recent years and expects to achieve the total installed capacity to 15.6 GW by 2035. Due to the large vessel traffic flow in Western Taiwan’s sea area, wind farms will inevitably reduce the navigable space and shadow some existing marine aids to navigation, thus worsening navigation safety. An approach using a fault tree analysis was used to carry out analysis of collision risk between ship-to-ship and ship-to-turbine. The vessel density distribution and traffic flow within the open sea of offshore wind farms would further increase to curtail the available navigable space. The shadowing effects along navigation channels would thereafter be worsened to raise the probability of collision risks in the sea. The results of the fault tree analysis revealed that if the ship is out of control, the time allowed to provide assistance is rather short, leading to the increase of collision risk extent between ships and wind turbines. Moreover, the study also found that unfit functions of the Vessel Traffic Service System and navigation aids and frequently and arbitrarily crossing the navigation channel of fishery vessels are the main causes of ship collisions. In order to effectively improve the navigation safety, competitive strategies for navigation safety are investigated and evaluated in this study. These strategies include making a complete plan for utilizing the whole sea, integrating the offshore vessel traffic service and management system, providing remote pilotage services, and building salvage vessels. The above promising strategies would enhance the navigation safety within the open sea. Collision risk might occur once marine accident occurs and no salvage vessel is available.
Highlights
Wind energy is an important carbon-free renewable energy and one of the fastestgrowing and cleanest sources of electricity in the world today [1]
Its western sea is an important route between Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, with about 30,000 vessels sailing through this area every year [26]
In many countries, offshore wind farms are built in shallow sea near the shore, so that ships sail in the deeper sea outside the offshore wind farms, and the navigation space of ships is less limited
Summary
Describe Taiwan’s offshore wind farm policy and environmental profile. Establishment of traffic flow management in navigation channel within offshore wind farms: Conduct structured interviews with five captains who have sailed more than 50 voyages in the western sea of Taiwan. Risk analysis in a navigation channel within offshore wind farms: Qualitative analysis of the navigation risk using the fault tree analysis method and Boolean algebra. Influencing factors for navigation safety within offshore wind farms: Discuss the influencing factors for navigation safety. Developing promising strategies to improve navigation safety in wind farms: Promising strategies for promoting navigation safety are developed
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
