Offshore wind ports are handling larger vessels and components, often in confined spaces and under pressure to keep projects moving. Managing the risks requires careful planning, suitable equipment and clear procedures.
Dennis Jul Pedersen, Chief Executive Officer of Port Esbjerg, looks at how weather forecasting, vessel data, pilotage, simulator training and clear operating limits can work together to make port operations safer.
On 10th June 2026, a wind installation vessel preparing to leave Gemini Quay at Port Esbjerg appeared to lose control. Blades onboard struck another wind installation vessel and subsequently two gantry cranes.
No personnel were injured, but nine blades were damaged and both vessels experienced downtime.
The Danish Maritime Authority concluded that the root cause was a lack of situational awareness. Port control, however, recorded strong wind gusts, while camera footage indicated that the vessel began drifting when the wind exceeded its manoeuvring capability.
For Pedersen, the incident highlights the importance of understanding how vessel capability, weather and operational decisions interact.
Understanding vessel limitations
Modern wind installation vessels are exceptionally large but highly manoeuvrable. Many carry Dynamic Positioning Class 2 notation, providing redundancy so that a single system failure should not cause loss of position.
However, dynamic positioning is primarily designed for station keeping rather than the extensive manoeuvring required inside a port.
Safe movement, therefore, requires several factors to be considered together:
Pedersen argues that port control should have access to vessel capability information when movements are planned, while recognising that station-keeping capability plots do not fully represent manoeuvring limits.
Using weather data before conditions reach the port
The Port Esbjerg incident occurred during wind gusts of 22 m/s.
Following the incident, Port Esbjerg asked i4cast to reconstruct the forecast. According to Pedersen, the system uses offshore sensors to identify potentially dangerous weather before it reaches the port.
In this case, it moved the forecast into the red alert band approximately 1.5 hours before the port’s own instruments could have detected the approaching conditions. Lightning was also detected as the convective weather system developed.
Pedersen concludes that this particular squall could have been foreseen, while stressing that the same cannot be assumed for every weather event.
Training for real-world conditions
Accurate weather information is important, but crews also need clear guidance on how to respond to changing conditions.
Port Esbjerg recreated the conditions of 10th June in a simulator. Subsequent simulations indicated that manoeuvring the vessel under those conditions was problematic and was considered unsafe by participants.
Pedersen sees value in joint simulator training for captains and pilots before offshore wind projects begin, but cautions that successful simulation does not automatically mean an operation is safe in reality.
Building layers of protection
Pedersen applies the Swiss Cheese model to port safety, where multiple safeguards reduce the likelihood of an incident.
These can include:
Port Esbjerg also uses a matrix of permitted operations defining which activities are allowed, applicable weather restrictions, vessel interactions and passing speeds.
The matrix must evolve as vessel types, projects and operating conditions change, with all parties agreeing how restrictions are applied.
Risk in port operations cannot be eliminated. For offshore wind ports handling larger vessels and components, several overlapping safeguards can help manage it.
Read more in the complete PES Wind feature: https://pes.eu.com/exclusive-articles/avoidance-of-high-potential-incidents-in-port-operations