Fendercare Subsea Services have completed their UXO project on behalf of Sandbank Offshore Wind, a joint venture between Vattenfall and Stadtwerke München.

The UXO project was conducted at the Sandbank offshore wind farm which is the second largest power generation project undertaken by Vattenfall and Stadtwerke München in the German North Sea. The operation itself identified 120 potential contacts of which 26 were highlighted as UXOs and disposed of in controlled environments.

Fendercare Subsea Services’ role as an operator was to relocate the contacts using surveying equipment, excavation of contacts using dredging tools on the Work-class ROV, identification of contacts by UXO experts and disposal by Explosive Ordnance Disposal team.

The Sandbank project area is located 90 kilometers off the coast of Schleswig-Holstein, and in total, 72 Siemens 4-megawatt class wind turbines will be erected there. With an overall capacity of 288 megawatts, the wind farm will start generating low-emissions power in the German North Sea in 2017.

The Sandbank project was carried out as part of a joint venture between Fendercare Subsea Services and GSS Hansa Offshore GmbH.

Martyn Muntingh, Fendercare Subsea Services Director commented: “Working with GSS Hansa, we now have the capability to detect, identify, remove and dispose of the UXO’s using experienced and qualified personnel who bring an extensive portfolio of successful live operations to the fore. We are delighted with the success of this ground-breaking project which was completed safely without any incidents and proud of our involvement in supporting the Sandbank project.”