BALTWRECK

BALTWRECK - Preventing massive marine waters chemical pollution from the leaking wrecks and munition

The project is concerned with combating various hazardous substances in the aquatic environment in order to increase safety and water quality. There are about 20,000 known military and civilian shipwrecks at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, of which about 10 per cent are a source of contamination from fuels or remnants of sunken munitions. More than 80 years after the Second World War, hazardous fuel is leaking from some of the rusted wrecks (e.g. carcinogenic pyrolytic oil from the ‘Stuttgart’ has already contaminated 40 ha of the Bay of Gdansk). Other wrecks are close to decomposition and need to be carefully monitored to assess the risk and the real threat to marine life and the impediment to a variety of economic activities on the seabed. Decisions on monitoring, clean-up or exclusion of anthropogenic activities in the vicinity of wrecks are extremely slow, as costly and intensive studies are needed in each case.

The BaltWreck initiative believes that the time has come to bring together all relevant marine research institutions, maritime administrations and decision-makers in the region to solve this major transboundary challenge in a methodological, efficient and internationally compliant manner.

The aim of the BaltWreck project is to contribute to the reduction of pollution of the Baltic Sea by ammunition, hazardous fuel and other dangerous shipwreck residues through the joint development, demonstration and implementation of national wreck management programmes.