On January 31, 2004 at Abeking & Rasmussen shipyard in Lemwerder/Germany a 25m SWATH@A&R vessel was launched. The Explorer will be used as a “Demonstrator” vessel for the further development of the “Minehunting 2000” remote controlled minehunting system. The contract for developing this system was awarded in 2002 to a consortium consisting of Abeking & Rasmussen, Atlas Elektronik, EADS and Lürssen. The newbuilt SWATH vessel is based very closely on the proven 25m SWATH@A&R® Pilot Vessels, which are in operation in the North Sea since 1999. Keel laying was done on March 21st last year.