Posted on October 27, 2025
To an outsider, it might seem like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack. The specialized survey for unexploded ordnance (UXO) that our colleagues at Boskalis Hirdes EOD Services have been conducting on the seabed for more than a decade is therefore anything but a “generic survey”. A telling example is taking place in the German part of the Baltic Sea, where a proposed cable route for 50Hertz Transmission GmbH (Elia Group Group) offshore wind connection Ostwind 4 is being surveyed for the presence of potential UXOs.
A number of survey vessels have been used to fully map the seabed, detecting “suspicious” elements. At a later stage, with our dedicated offshore UXO detection and clearance vessel Kamara – fully equipped with all necessary equipment – these targets are first further identified, thoroughly investigated and, if necessary, dismantled or removed. For the future export cable, this is to be done in a corridor over a total length of around 100 kilometers, from the German harbour of Vierow to the planned location of the Offshore Substation north-east of Rügen. A huge survey area in which hundreds of targets will be investigated, to ensure a safe installation of a DC cable system. Once in operation, the Ostwind 4 grid connection will transport up to 2 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power to the mainland.
Would you like to know more about our activities in the field of offshore unexploded ordnance disposal? Check out this article in our online magazine Creating New Horizons: https://lnkd.in/eiCXC-vY.
