Skip to main content
Free course

Underwater EO Risk Management: From Seabed Risk to Safe Marine Development

This short awareness-level showcase course introduces the underwater explosive ordnance challenge, the transition from survey to structured risk management, and the relationship between clearance, investment and coastal development. Using the Bay of Kotor as a case context, it demonstrates how MARSAFE combines digital learning, technical instruction, practical training, competency assessment and continuing professional development. The course does not qualify participants to conduct explosive ordnance disposal, underwater clearance, diving, intrusive investigation, render-safe procedures, demolition, recovery or disposal operations.

Lesson 1

1.1 1. The Underwater EO Challenge

MARSAFEUnderwater Operations Centre
Monaco Showcase
Awareness · Marine Development

When a coastline carries a military legacy, seabed uncertainty can become a safety, programme and investment issue long after conflict has ended.

Image: Bay of Kotor, Wikimedia Commons. Source and licence.
The development question is not simply “Is there EO?”

It is whether a plausible legacy hazard overlaps with planned seabed interaction, and whether that uncertainty has been managed before marine works begin.

Legacy

Former naval facilities, wartime targets and other historical military activity can leave long-term uncertainty beneath the water.

Interaction

Dredging, piling, trenching, cable installation, anchoring and foundation works may interact with seabed sediments.

Project consequence

Unmanaged uncertainty can affect safety, schedule, insurance, permitting, contractor confidence and investment decisions.

Historical contextWhat happened at this site?
?
Planned worksHow will the project interact with the seabed?
?
Risk decisionWhat professional controls are required?
Project insight: underwater EO risk management can be a development-enabling function. It helps reduce uncertainty so marine investment can proceed with appropriate professional assurance.
Safety boundary: this lesson provides awareness and management-level understanding only. It does not teach identification, handling, recovery, render-safe or disposal procedures.

Practical Exercise

Imagine a planned waterfront redevelopment on a former military site. List three project activities that could interact with the seabed and write one question the developer should answer about underwater EO risk before construction starts.

Summary

Underwater EO risk is relevant where historic military activity and future seabed interaction overlap. Effective risk management supports safety, project continuity and investment confidence.

Resources for this lesson

Web link

Lesson content: 1.1 1. The Underwater EO Challenge

Open resource
Lesson 2

1.2 2. From Survey to Risk Management

MARSAFEUnderwater Operations Centre
Evidence ? Decision
Conceptual Workflow

Survey becomes valuable when it is connected to historical evidence, professional interpretation, project decisions and documented residual risk.

Image: Måns Sjödahl / Wikimedia Commons. Source and licence.

Professional risk management normally develops progressively. Historical information helps define what may be relevant. Appropriate survey can reduce uncertainty. Specialists interpret the evidence in relation to the planned works. The project team can then make a documented decision about how to proceed.

UnderstandSite history, project footprint and uncertainty
?
SurveyCollect relevant marine evidence
?
InterpretAssess data quality and project relevance
?
DecideSelect proportionate risk controls
?
AssureDocument limitations and residual risk

What evidence can do

Reduce uncertainty, identify areas requiring attention, support route or design choices and strengthen project decisions.

What evidence cannot promise

Absolute certainty. Survey performance depends on conditions, objectives, data quality and competent professional interpretation.

Management principle: collect and interpret enough relevant evidence to support a proportionate and defensible project decision—not simply the maximum possible volume of data.
Professional boundary: any operational investigation or clearance activity requires appropriately qualified and authorised specialists working under applicable standards, procedures and national law.

Practical Exercise

A subsea cable route crosses an area with incomplete wartime records. Write one management question for each stage: historical understanding, survey, interpretation, risk decision and final assurance.

Summary

Underwater EO survey is one component of a wider risk-management lifecycle. Professional value comes from linking evidence, interpretation, project decisions and documented residual risk.

Resources for this lesson

Web link

Lesson content: 1.2 2. From Survey to Risk Management

Open resource
Lesson 3

1.3 3. From Clearance to Development: The Bay of Kotor Experience

MARSAFEUnderwater Operations Centre
Bay of Kotor Case
From Legacy to Development

The Bay of Kotor illustrates how managing legacy seabed risk can support the transition from former military use to high-value coastal redevelopment.

Image: Daniel Nyul / Wikimedia Commons. Source and licence.

Tivat Arsenal ? Porto Montenegro

The former naval-industrial area illustrates how legacy military sites can be transformed when marine risk, site preparation, infrastructure and investment planning are addressed together.

Kumbor ? Portonovi

The former military complex at Kumbor similarly demonstrates the wider transition from defence use towards tourism, waterfront investment and long-term economic use.

Military legacyHistoric use and seabed uncertainty
?
Risk managementProfessional assessment and mitigation
?
Investment confidenceReduced uncertainty for project actors
?
RedevelopmentMarine infrastructure, tourism and economic use
MARSAFE founder Veselin Mijajlovi? receiving professional recognition
MARSAFE image: professional recognition of founder Veselin Mijajlovi?.

MARSAFE Underwater EO Training & Capacity Development

Digital learning ? Technical instruction ? Practical training ? Competency development

LEVEL ADigital FoundationQuadraEdge microlearning, terminology, safety culture, standards, project lifecycle and knowledge checks.
LEVEL BInstructor-Led Technical LearningClassroom instruction, case analysis, equipment familiarisation and supervised technical learning.
LEVEL CPractical TrainingMARSAFE Training Centre in Bijela, with supervised practical exercises appropriate to role and required competency.
LEVEL DCompetency AssessmentFormal assessment against defined competencies and applicable standards.
LEVEL EContinuing Professional DevelopmentRefresher learning, technology updates, exercises and competency records.
Programme boundary: the digital course is the awareness foundation of a larger professional training system. It does not itself provide operational authorisation or competence.

Practical Exercise

Choose a former military, industrial or port site known to you. Write a four-step development chain showing how legacy risk, specialist risk management, investment confidence and redevelopment could be connected.

Summary

The Bay of Kotor illustrates how underwater risk management can support the transition from military legacy to productive marine development. MARSAFE's training model extends from digital awareness through supervised practical learning, competency assessment and continuing professional development.

Resources for this lesson

Web link

Lesson content: 1.3 3. From Clearance to Development: The Bay of Kotor Experience

Open resource