Bibby HydroMap Kicks Off Dutch UXO Hunt for Vattenfall

Bibby HydroMap has embarked on a large scale UXO survey of Hollandse Kust Zuid offshore wind farm sites I & II on behalf of client Vattenfall.

Using a multi-vessel approach, Bibby Tethra and Bibby Athena will together acquire over 4,000-line km of high-density magnetometer, side scan sonar, multibeam echosounder and parametric sub-bottom data over the Dutch wind farms.

Each vessel will be equipped with a comparable suite of sensors, including dual EIVA ScanFish ROTVs each accommodating four magnetometers designed to provide a dense magnetometer dataset across key locations of the site.

“We are delighted to be working with Vattenfall on Hollandse Kust Zuid in 2019 to support their renewable goals. Utilising the latest offerings from industry leading suppliers we are able to provide a highly effective and efficient UXO survey methodology, applicable to even the most environmentally challenging of sites,” said Daniel Jenkins, project manager at Bibby HydroMap

Located 22km from the coast of the Netherlands, the 700MW Hollandse Kust Zuid I & II project will produce renewable energy for up to 1.5 million homes. Once completed in 2022 the project will be the world’s first to be built without public subsidy.

“Ships will be departing for the wind farm area in the coming months. The ship crews will remain at sea for several days and work in shifts. We are really starting to work on site now. That marks a new phase in the project. We have commissioned a study of the seabed conditions so that in the near future we will know exactly what the seabed is like and where we can place the foundations for the wind turbines. The companies we have under contract have a lot of experience in this and we are happy to have them on board,” explains Ian Bremner, project director of Hollandse Kust Zuid