Completed in 2005, the Malta-registered offshore tug/supply vessel Kamara has been modified by Boskalis to search the seabed for unexploded ordnance
(UXO).
SHIPSPOTTING/FRITS OLINGA
Offshore support vessels continue to be modified for purposes other than for which they were built, and among these is the 70m by 16m Kamara, completed by Singapore’s Keppel Singmarine in 2005 as Smit Kamara for Smit Singapore.
Now she is being used by Boskalis to hunt for unexploded ordnance (UXO) on the seabed. Most of the UXO consists of decades-old explosives left over from World War II, which pose a threat to offshore wind farm development, particularly to the turbine sites, and the many kilometres of cable routes that need to be trenched into the ocean floor.