Aberdeen firm wins £1m explosives removal contract

M2 Subsea will take the WWII devices from the bottom of the Baltic Sea

Published 18th May 2017

An Aberdeen company has won a £1 million contract to remove explosives from the world's longest pipeline.

M2 Subsea will extract the explosive devices which have been lying at the bottom of the Baltic Sea since the Second World War.

The company specialises in remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs) and they will supply two specialised machines and 15 staff to the chartered multipurpose-support vessel Go Electra to deliver the Nord Stream 2 Project.

All work will be managed from the Granite City and the vessel will be deployed from Hanko in Finland.

M2 Subsea chief executive officer Mike Arnold said: “This contract award from Next Geosolutions is great for the business and a significant scope of work for us to win.

“It highlights both our personnel and asset capabilities to negotiate what is a very challenging subsea environment.

“Safety is a key factor on every project and in particular where it involves surveying the seabed to identify undiscovered explosive devices for removal.

“We are very pleased to have chartered the Go Electra, which is highly specialised for subsea inspection, repair and maintenance work, and ideal for supporting the conditions the team and ROVs face in the Baltic.”

Next Geosolutions chief executive officer Giovanni Ranieri said: “This is an exciting project for Next Geosolutions and we're delighted to have the opportunity to work with M2 Subsea.”