Royal Navy divers have been working with NATO allies to clear historic unexploded ordnance from the Gulf of Riga during Exercise Open Spirit, the UK Defence Journal understands.
Delta Squadron of the Royal Navy’s Diving and Threat Exploitation Group deployed to the gulf, a historically significant body of water in the Baltic Sea, to detect and neutralise munitions dating back to the First and Second World Wars. The exercise brought together ships, diving teams, autonomous and uncrewed equipment and nearly 400 personnel from Canada, the United States, Germany, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine.
The Gulf of Riga presents a particular challenge for clearance operations. Relatively shallow at 54 metres at its deepest point but covering an area roughly four times the size of Hampshire, the gulf remains littered with naval mines and other hazardous munitions from past conflicts. Safe access to the waterway is considered vital for commercial shipping, with Riga port handling nearly 2,500 vessels annually, as well as for the local fishing community.
During the exercise, Delta Squadron employed the Artimis Pro handheld sonar to help divers identify objects in low-visibility conditions on the seabed, alongside the VideoRay Defender remotely-operated vehicle. Lieutenant Christopher Gray, Officer in Charge of Delta Squadron, said conditions on the seabed were extremely difficult, but noted that divers could be seen “grow more confident in their role as a mine clearance diver each time they dive on a target.”
Gray added that “the opportunity to use their skillset to help other nations coupled with the chance to travel and experience different countries and cultures is why all these divers joined the Royal Navy as a mine clearance diver and represents the fulfilment of their career aspirations.”
Exercise Open Spirit 26 marks the sixth consecutive year that Delta Squadron has attended the exercise. The gulf’s proximity to Latvia, an NATO member state on the alliance’s northeastern flank, gives the clearance work an operational dimension beyond maritime safety alone, with the region having taken on heightened strategic significance since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
