The placement of rock armour on the new Cowes Breakwater is underway and a weekly notice of proposed barge arrivals and an unloading timetable will be published on the CHC website .
It is expected that the rock barge DN146 will be on station in the breakwater Exclusion Zone for around 18 hours at a time for unloading and before departing Cowes Harbour.
The rock barge will be accompanied by the tug Smit Beluga, which will maintain a listening watch on VHF Channel 69 as well as making an ‘All Ships’ broadcast on arrival at the Cowes Harbour limits and again prior to departure from the Exclusion Zone; a Cowes pilot will also be embarked.
Cowes Harbour Commission has agreed this amended works schedule with contractors Boskalis Westminster and in consultation with the Isle of Wight Council’s Environmental Heath department.
As a result, Boskalis Westminster will manage the off-loading of rock armour material between 0700 and 2300, although the placement of armour material along the breakwater will only be carried out between the daytime hours of 0800 to 2000 in consideration of local residents in the area.