Maritime UXO Services

Service Description

UXO Maritime Watching Brief Marine and coastal projects involving seabed disturbance — dredging, cable and pipeline installation, offshore wind foundations, port works — carry a real risk of encountering unexploded ordnance (UXO) from wartime bombardment, naval minefields, and historic dumping. TEXORD delivers UXO maritime support to companies in line with CIRIA C754 (Assessment and Management of UXO Risk in the Marine Environment), the UK industry framework for identifying, assessing, and mitigating offshore UXO risk. Underwater EOD tasks are carried out by qualified and experienced underwater EOD personnel to IMAS 09.60 (Underwater Survey and Clearance of Explosive Ordnance), which builds on the core EOD competency levels of IMAS 09.30 or military equivalent. Operators must first hold land-based EOD competency commensurate with the NEQ limits and role of their qualification, then progress to underwater EOD qualification (IMAS 09.60 or equivalent) before undertaking underwater tasks — ensuring a consistent, internationally recognised standard both above and below the surface. Watching Brief for Underwater UXO Where full clearance isn't required but UXO encounter during seabed works can't be ruled out, a UXO Watching Brief offers proportionate mitigation. A qualified underwater EOD engineer monitors operations in real time, ready to identify, assess, and respond to any suspect item — minimising delay while keeping personnel and plant safe. TEXORD's Watching Brief is delivered by engineers holding Underwater EOD or IMAS 09.60 qualification, working within the CIRIA C754 risk framework, so any item found is correctly assessed and safely managed by a competent person without unnecessary disruption to the wider project. Diving Standards All underwater work complies with the Diving at Work Regulations 1997 and the relevant HSE Approved Code of Practice for the diving mode used, governing diver certification, supervision, medical fitness, and safe systems of work alongside the EOD competency requirements above.