The fieldwork, from Fugro vessels including the geophysical vessel Fugro Pioneer and geotechnical drilling vessel, Fugro Scout, began in August 2018 and will run through until February 2019. To enhance quality and bring operational efficiency to the project, Fugro will deploy the proven Geobor-S piggyback drilling system, and its team of geophysical, geological and geotechnical experts will complement and optimise the final deliverables.

"Our drilling set-up ensures that we deliver data of the highest quality to Iberdrola and obtain it in a safe manner," said Erik Vogt, Fugro's project manager. "Starting with the Fugro Pioneer we'll clear the sites of any UXO risks efficiently and assure timely commencement of the geotechnical operations."

Kevin O'Reilly, offshore civil engineer in Iberdrola's Baltic Eagle team said: "We have been working intensively with Fugro in recent weeks to prepare for the commencement of the geotechnical campaign, which is crucial to the success of the project."

The data will inform the design of the foundations for the wind turbines and offshore substation, which will be installed in water depths of up to 45m.

With a total capacity of up to 476MW and spanning an area of 35sqkm, the Baltic Eagle wind farm is located 30km off the coast of the German island of Rügen.