Sonardyne Mini-Ranger 2 Aids Eggers’ UXO Clearance in Baltic Sea

Marine salvage specialists, Eggers Kampfmittelbergung GmbH, has completed its first project using underwater acoustic tracking technology supplied by Sonardyne International, UK, during an operation to dispose of unexploded ordnance lying off the German coast in the Baltic Sea.

The Mini-Ranger 2 Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL) system was used to track divers as they surveyed the seabed, recording the location of potential targets before clearing the area of metal objects and old ammunition.

For its first mission using Mini-Ranger 2, Eggers deployed their USBL system from a survey barge moored 500 meters off the coast. Specialist clearance divers were each equipped with a Sonardyne WSM 6 transponder attached to their back, whilst over the side of the barge, a HPT 3000 acoustic transceiver was deployed on a pole.

Jan Wommelsdorff, managing director at Scholz Ing.-Buero GmbH, Sonardyne’s German agent, said, “Egger’s decision to invest in Mini-Ranger 2 was made only after a detailed comparison of its capabilities against competing USBL technologies. Now after using it for the first time, it’s clear that the system will indeed increase the speed and efficiency of Egger’s underwater operations in North Sea and Baltic Sea as well as inshore.”