A spokesman for the Liverpool Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre told Recharge the standby safety vessel OMS Pollux had collided yesterday with a foundation at the 51-turbine, 367MW plant.

The Danish-registered vessel, with a crew of around 18 on board, remained afloat and there were no reported injuries. A lifeboat was scrambled to help the ship.

An aircraft from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s counter-pollution team reported that a surface sheen around 0.7