WORKERS on the world’s largest offshore wind farm, London Array, which opened earlier this month in the Outer Thames Estuary, have been taking advantage of the prolonged heat wave to strip off their drysuits.
As the hot weather continues and sea temperatures rise well above the required minimum of 10 degrees Celsius, workers on many of the UK’s wind farms have been permitted to wear ordinary uniform clothing and life-jackets.
This has meant an extra busy time for Dartford–based drysuit manufacture and repair company, Hammond Drysuits, as many of their corporate clients take advantage of the hot spell to send in their drysuits for Annual Inspection and certification.
E.On Climate & Renewables, a global leader in the offshore wind industry and one of three companies invested in the newly opened London Array, has chosen Hammond Drysuits as its repair agent for its drysuits and survival suits for the third consecutive year.
With over 300 commercial wind farms now operating in the UK, Hammond Drysuits has taken on a number of new corporate customers in recent months. Amongst its new clients are specialist equipment suppliers, Wind Farm Equipment Ltd, and Dawson Energy, a leading provider of wind turbine technicians.
Director and owner of Hammond Drysuits, Chris Hammond says: “As the number of wind farms around the UK continues to grow and offshore wind energy plays an ever bigger part in supplying the UK’s energy needs, we have seen a direct increase in the number of commercial drysuit repairs at our UK-based service and repair facility. We are delighted to be working with a number of new clients this year.”
During the Annual Inspection process, each suit is subjected to a Wet Pressure Test to ensure integrity of the fabric and zip, followed by a thorough visual inspection to determine whether replacement seals are required. On completion, a Certificate of Inspection is then issued, valid for a 12 month period.
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Press release, July 19, 2013; Image: hammond