Partrac, a leading provider of metocean and seabed consultancy part of Venterra Group, has been awarded The Crown Estate’s Safety First Award, introduced to recognise contractors who demonstrated exceptional safety performance during the Celtic Sea Lease Area survey programme. In particular, Partrac was recognised for its strong safety record during the Round 5 metocean and floating LiDAR survey programme.
The recognition reflects Partrac’s deeply embedded safety culture and the diligence of its project managers and offshore survey teams throughout the delivery of the Round 5 programme. As part of Venterra Group, Partrac plays a critical role in delivering high‑quality, low‑risk marine data and insights that underpin safe and efficient offshore wind development.
Sam Athey, Managing Director at Partrac said: “Partrac is delighted to have received The Crown Estate’s Safety First Award. It means a great deal to our team. The recognition reflects the safety culture we’ve built over many years, and the tenacity, professionalism and care our offshore survey teams bring to every project. Health and safety isn’t a boxtick for us; it’s foundational to how we work.”
The award comes at a time when the offshore wind industry is increasingly focused on improving safety performance in floating LiDAR systems (FLS). The G+ Global Offshore Wind Health and Safety Organisation’s Floating LiDAR Safety Working Group has highlighted persistent safety issues in legacy buoy designs, particularly around manual handling, lifting operations, in‑field maintenance and the requirement for repeated offshore interventions.
Partrac’s V‑LiDAR, developed through a risk‑led engineering approach, directly addresses these issues by reducing the need for offshore servicing, improving deck‑handling ergonomics, and increasing system reliability. The system was recently named a finalist in the IIRSM Risk Excellence Awards 2026 – Technological Breakthrough of the Year, recognising its potential to meaningfully reduce exposure hours and improve safety outcomes across floating wind measurement campaigns.
Claire Binns, Group Director of HSSEQ at Venterra Group, added: “Safety offshore is never incidental – it comes from good planning, strong risk management and people who genuinely look out for each other. Partrac shows that every day. Their work is a great example of the behaviours we expect across Venterra, and we’re really pleased to see The Crown Estate recognise that. Alongside the team’s focus on driving a strong safety culture, their development of the V‑LiDAR also shows how safety leadership and technical progress can go hand in hand.”
This award further reinforces Partrac’s long‑standing commitment to safety excellence across its metocean and seabed consultancy operations, supported by its ISO‑accredited Quality, Health, Safety and Environmental systems (ISO 45001:2018, ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015). These standards underpin every offshore operation Partrac delivers and contribute to Venterra’s wider mission to provide comprehensive services that reduce project risk, time and cost for offshore wind developers globally.