alternative scuba explorations

alternative scuba explorations

In the waters off the coast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a significant cleanup operation is underway. The German Federal Ministry for the Environment has provided funding for the removal of World War II ammunition from the Baltic and North Seas, with a focus on contaminated areas in the Bay of Lübeck and Bay of Mecklenburg.

The current project, spearheaded by the Baltic Diving and Recovery Company, involves retrieving approximately 15 tonnes of aging ordnance from the seabed near Boltenhagen, about 30 nautical miles west of Rostock. A dive support barge is being used, with divers working around the clock to sort, crate, and raise corroded munitions to the surface for safe transport and disposal onshore.

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern plays a central role in this operation. The state's Environment Minister, Dr. Till Backhaus, has expressed his support for the location choice, stating that this is the most ambitious munitions recovery project in German marine waters to date. The region is demonstrating its commitment to technical, ecological, and political responsibility for seabed cleanup.

Rostock, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, has been chosen as the location for a new national competence center dedicated to munitions recovery. This center will serve as a research hub, advancing methods to detect, retrieve, and safely dispose of underwater ordnance scattered throughout the Baltic and North Seas.

Future plans include the development of floating munitions recovery and destruction units, capable of handling the entire process at sea. This would minimize risks involved with transporting unstable ordnance. Initial testing is focused on the highly contaminated areas in the Bay of Lübeck and Bay of Mecklenburg.

The disposal of ammunition is seen as a solution to one of the most urgent environmental problems in the maritime area. Approximately 300,000 tons of World War II remnants are rusting in the Baltic Sea, with about 1.3 million tons in the North Sea. Chemical warfare agents, including around 5,000 tons of Tabun, a chemical poisonous substance that causes death by respiratory paralysis in humans, are also present in the marine arsenal.

The federal government has allocated approximately 100 million euros for this task in the 2025 budget. Further expenses for the disposal complex are expected to be budgeted by the federal government in the future.

However, not all politicians agree on the approach and location of the ammunition disposal. Schleswig-Holstein's Economics Minister Claus Ruhe Madsen (CDU) prefers a joint federal-state working group on ammunition disposal, suggesting a different approach to the issue.

Despite these differences, there is agreement among the politicians that the ammunition disposal is a solution to an urgent environmental problem in the maritime area. The evaluation of the work aims to build a unique floating industrial facility that will dispose of hazardous material at sea, addressing environmental issues in the maritime area.

References: 1. Baltic Diving and Recovery Company begins World War II ammunition removal operations off the coast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

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