News

The £625m Nemo Link project to connect the energy systems of the UK and Belgium has unearthed more than a dozen bombs and mines dating back a century to when the continent was racked by war.

Three wartime mines were found on a Danish offshore wind farm site thanks to help from a UK-based expert company using its pioneering Mine Map.

The potentially dangerous relics were found using data gathered by Ordtek, whose charts are used by offshore wind developers to find and remove unexploded ordnance (UXO) – mainly mines and bombs – from the seabed.

Ordtek are to present in partnership with The Port of London Hydrographic service (PLA) and SAND Geophysics on the use of 3D chirp technology for UXO detection and the limitations of traditional survey techniqies in some environments, such as the River Thames.

Working with Vattenfall from the desk based study stages, Ordtek were able to develop a risk mitigation strategy using the historic research undertaken for the Horns Rev 3 Offshore Wind Farm site to enable to safe management of the UXO risk for the project.

“We already knew the minefield existed because it was recorded on nautical charts but in order to obtain more precise information we found the mine [field] coordinates in German logs from 1944. Using old German nautical charts converted into modern-day GPS coordinates” Arne Rød Lauridsen, Senior Geophysicist, Vattenfall.

Ordtek supports the DeepOcean gilder pole removal campaign at Middleton Sands, Haysham for the Walney Extension Offshore Wind Farm. Providing UXO support as part of their overarching risk management of the project for DONG Energy.

Galloper Wind Farm Ltd is preparing to undertake a programme of disposal of items identified as unexploded wartime ordnance, found on the seabed where the Galloper wind farm will be built off the Suffolk coast. The objects were identified during surveys undertaken ahead of the offshore construction starting this summer.