Baltic Sea Council: Baerbock with 100 million against munitions contamination
Max Gasser
· 06.06.2023
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The Council of the Baltic Sea States met for two days in Wismar last week. In addition to foreign policy issues, the meeting of the neighbouring states (plus Norway and Iceland) once again addressed the issue of munitions contamination. Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Alliance 90/The Greens) showed her determination and also promised the use of a mobile salvage platform from 2024. This has been under discussion for some time and was originally due to be realised this year.
In addition to a budget of 100 million euros, which has been released for the project by the federal government, Baerbock is hoping for the support of wind farm operators. This is because the states involved in the Baltic Sea Council now want to jointly increase their offshore wind power capacity sevenfold by 2030. The operators are to contribute to the cost-intensive salvage work in order to be able to build offshore wind turbines in affected areas.
Ammunition waste- This is how the explosive ordnance disposal service has proceeded with the recovery so far
Every sailor has long been familiar with the warnings of contamination from munitions on nautical charts. According to the Federal Environment Agency, there are approximately 1.6 million tonnes of conventional munitions and 5,000 tonnes of chemical warfare agents at the bottom of the German North Sea and Baltic Sea - a danger to humans and the marine environment.
They are largely the legacy of the war. While it was still going on, the waters were mined. In addition, the National Socialists scuttled large stocks towards the end of the war to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Allies - or possibly causing a devastating explosion in the event of an enemy attack. The targeted mining of shallow water zones, i.e. potential anchorages, was not intended. Explosives only reached areas close to the coast after the end of the war. Under the supervision of the allied forces, unfired ammunition was transported there, for example to the Kolberger Heide unpurified area. Anchoring there is therefore prohibited. The Soviet army did the same with its explosive waste in the inland lakes of eastern Germany.
At present, if there is a risk to shipping from munitions, they are defused and recovered by munitions clearance services. The munitions are later disposed of at the only German disposal facility in Munster.
Ammunition dumping areas have not yet been cleared
Large objects on the seabed are found using sonar technology. Very often, the explosive ordnance disposal service discovers unknown objects, which are labelled as "suspected points". Divers are then sent down and have to take a very close look at these points. However, this can be difficult as layers of sediment may have covered the point over the decades. Only when the divers see the object directly do they know whether they are harmless objects or whether they are actually munitions.
For pure diving work, a radius of 500 metres is usually closed; for underwater blasting, the safety zone is extended to 1,000 metres up to one nautical mile. However, these areas can also vary depending on the depth of the water and the type and scope of the work and munitions. Information about such temporary safety zones will be published in the usual way in the "Notices to mariners" published.
The munitions dumping areas have not yet been cleared. This is not only due to the mass of ammunition dumped there, but also due to the unclear disposal routes and, last but not least, the potential danger to the men of the explosive ordnance disposal service. This could change from 2024 with the planned mobile salvage platform.
If defusing by divers is not possible, the munitions are usually blown up immediately by specialists from the explosive ordnance disposal service. However, this does not completely destroy the harmful substances, but releases them into the environment. In addition, the underwater blast can damage the hearing of marine mammals.
Legacy munitions as a danger to people and the environment
The metal shells of the munitions (e.g. bombs, mines and grenades) also rust through over time, releasing the pollutants they contain into the marine environment. In the case of conventional ammunition, the pollutants are typical explosive compounds such as TNT and other nitroaromatics. TNT in particular is considered toxic, carcinogenic and/or mutagenic. Conventional ammunition also contains heavy metals such as mercury. These are also released into the marine environment after the metal shells rust away.
Chemical weapons were also used in the First World War, but only marginally in the Second World War. They were intended to severely impair the fighting ability of soldiers or even lead to death. According to the Federal Environment Agency, significantly more chemical warfare agents (5,000 tonnes) were dumped in the Baltic Sea than in the North Sea (approx. 90 tonnes in the Helgoland Hole).
Most of the known accidents involving warfare agents of this type to date have been caused by tough-lost (a mixture of the skin agent S-lost [also known as mustard gas] with a thickening agent) around the dumping area east of Bornholm, where lumps of the agent got into fishing nets. In the chemistry portal chemistry.com reads: "Lost is a strong skin toxin and has been proven to be carcinogenic. The effect on the skin is comparable to severe burns or chemical burns. Large, very painful blisters form. The injuries heal poorly. The tissue is permanently destroyed and cell division is inhibited. Extensively affected limbs usually have to be amputated. If the vapours are inhaled, the bronchial tubes are destroyed."
The effects of highly flammable white phosphorus on humans are similar. This was used in incendiary bombs during the Second World War. To this day, chunks of white phosphorus are washed up on German beaches. The danger here is that it can be mistaken for amber - especially on Usedom, where, according to the Federal Environment Agency, around 1.2 tonnes have ended up in the sea due to misplaced phosphorus incendiary bombs. Warning signs warn holidaymakers of the dangers here.
Does the ammunition pose a danger to sailors?
According to explosive ordnance experts, the potential danger posed by old munitions is generally much lower when sailing. The probability of a detonation due to external influences is relatively low in the case of collapsed barrel weapon ammunition, but higher in the case of a large explosive device such as a mine or torpedo, as the very large explosive component is only enclosed by thin-walled sheet metal. However, you would first have to hit a thin-walled explosive device with your anchor, and with the necessary kinetic energy. It is unlikely that both factors will coincide.
However, if you disregard a designated restricted area, you are taking a serious risk as a sailor. In addition, recourse payments can be made due to the disruption to operations. However, such offences rarely occur.
