Rostock becomes a center for ammunition recovery: a milestone for the Baltic Sea!

Rostock becomes a center for ammunition recovery: a milestone for the Baltic Sea!

Rostock has been awarded the contract for a new federal competence center for ammunition recovery. A decision that is important not only for the region, but also for the environment. Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider from the SPD justifies this step with the comprehensive scientific expertise and technical know-how that the Rostock location offers. There are an estimated 1.6 million tons of old ammunition stored in the Baltic and North Seas, which not only pose a risk to the environment, but also potentially to human health. wismar.fm reports that...

The problem is not new. After the Second World War, large quantities of old ammunition were dumped into the sea. Dangerous contaminated sites are piling up particularly in the Baltic Sea, off the coast of Schleswig-Holstein. There are around 300,000 tons of old conventional ammunition there, and the risk of harmful substances such as TNT and other carcinogenic compounds being distributed in the water is constantly growing. Due to corrosion and the influence of climate change, which also increases the intensity of storms, the decay of ammunition residues is accelerating. [The MV Climate Foundation provides information about...](https://klimastiftung-mv.de/ Sprengstoff-fuer-die-umwelt-munitionsbergung-in-der-ostsee/)

A good step for the environment

The establishment of the center is stipulated in the coalition agreement and aims to clear the seas of contaminated waste. Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig emphasizes that this step is not directed against Schleswig-Holstein. Rather, it is about pooling forces and promoting collaboration. The ammunition recovery service in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has already recovered 1,500 tons of ammunition, which are now waiting to be safely disposed of. [ Tauchen.de highlights that ...](https://www. Tauchen.de/news/umweltlastung-durch-altmunition-in-der-ostsee/)

The recovery and disposal of these contaminated sites is anything but easy. Experts warn that the challenges could increase in the future. An important aspect of this is the disposal of the recovered ammunition scrap, which has been identified as a “bottleneck” for further recovery. In order to overcome this, the Bundestag has launched a pilot project with a budget of around 100 million euros, which aims to safely dispose of ammunition directly at the sites where it was found.

The new federal competence center will focus on innovative technologies, including remote-controlled crawlers for ammunition recovery. These technologies could be used not only in the Baltic Sea but also internationally to remove waste ammunition from waters. Eyk-Uwe Pap from the Baltic divers, who already has experience in salvaging ammunition, underlines the urgency of finally taking action here.

Together for a clean sea

At the political level, work is already underway on a new HELCOM Baltic Sea action plan, which is to be decided in Lübeck in October 2023. This action plan is intended to address the problem of dumped ammunition in detail. The urgency of acting in solidarity with Schleswig-Holstein was also emphasized by Claus Böttcher from the Schleswig-Holstein Ministry of the Environment. Ultimately, it is important to move forward quickly with the clearance of ammunition in the Baltic and North Seas and to find solutions together.

So the path is clear: ammunition recovery and environmental protection must go hand in hand. With Rostock as a new center for this important task, the conditions for this have been created. It remains to be hoped that the necessary measures will be taken quickly so that the seas in northern Germany will soon become cleaner again.