Ordtek Expands Mine Map to Cover Danish Waters

UK-based unexploded ordnance (UXO) specialist Ordtek has expanded the geographic scope of its interactive online mapping service, Mine Map, to cover Danish waters.

The online tool has already been used on the Horns Rev 3 and Kreigers Flak wind sites off Denmark and has helped identify three wartime mines on Horns Rev 3.

The biggest of the Horns Rev mines – a German anti-shipping ground mine from the Second World War  – was blown up by the Danish Navy in a controlled explosion at sea. Two other smaller mines from the First World War were removed.

The Horns Rev site, now under construction off Esbjerg on Denmark’s west coast, features 49 187-metre-tall turbines generating 406.7MW of power.

Ordtek is also helping survey the route of the cable taking power to shore from the Kriegers Flak site off the east coast near Copenhagen.

An estimated 5,000 to 6,000 mines lie in Danish waters, left over from targeting shipping lanes during both world wars, including about 70 in the Horns Rev area – but mostly outside the wind farm site.

Ordtek draws its Mine Map data from archives held by a variety of sources including, for Denmark, the German and UK military records.  Once risks are identified, ROVs and divers are used to pinpoint the munitions for disposal.

Last year, the company from Diss in Norfolk launched the Mine Map for UK waters.

The UK map data helped find UXO at the Rampion and Race Bank wind farm sites, from small rockets to high explosive bombs.