Following the discovery of what was suspected to be a British SMK6 submarine laid buoyant mine at Ninian Central Platform a specialist UXO contractor was contracted to safely dispose of the item. The pUXO was situated within the Platforms 500m, located in close proximity to a series of production pipelines which made the disposal particularly challenging. Due to the close proximity of the pUXO to the platform the project attracted significant interest by both local and national media.

Smart Subsea Solutions provided a Project Lead who was required to manage the vessel, review and approve subsea procedures and suitably risk assess all aspects of the disposal operation. The project required internal engagement between numerous internal and offshore departments (Integrity, Ops, SHE, Finance, Partners, Contracts, Logistics) and external departments (Government HSE, James Fisher/DOF, Xodus, Royal Navy, BEIS, Coastguard, Bristows, Aberdeen Harbour Board, Marine Scotland, SEPA, UK Fisheries, and Grampian Police) The pUXO was successfully relocated to a pre-determined safe disposal area outside of Ninian Central 500m before being sampled and confirmed as non-UXO. The offshore scope which lasted 3 days in field was completed on schedule and within budget.