Belgium has a brand new instrument to seek for mines. The yellow submarine-looking craft is an underwater drone referred to as Remus. It is in a position to discover and map shallow waters the place typical ships can not move.
On the Belgian naval base of Zeebrugge, a crew of demining mavens are checking out its sonar functions. Bruno Lecoq, Head of the Mine Warfare Unit, mentioned they can inform if “we found an echo on the sonar image that looks suspicious. So depending on certain criteria, we attribute a classification to it. And based on that, we decide whether it`s necessary to investigate on location to determine whether the detected object is a potentially explosive device or not.”
Thousands of mines nonetheless at the coast
Between 100,000 and 300,000 mines are estimated to stay at the 65 kilometres of Belgian beach, left there for the reason that two international wars. The major function nowadays is to protected the ports and seashores.
Marie-France Godeau, a Belgian Navy Officer, mentioned that mines are in truth a ancient danger, “due to the sheer number of mines and bombs that have been dropped in our waters in Europe during the two world wars. But unfortunately they also constitute a present threat.”
With rising global tensions, European neighbours are observing the Belgian enjoy with passion.
Six specifically provided Remus ships are anticipated to be brought to Belgium by way of 2030.
