the bottom of The sea in the East and the North sea is littered with ticking time bombs. “In the Bay of Kiel, Bay-wide popular beaches torpedo head in addition to explosives, mine are in sight,” says the marine biologist Matthias Brenner from the Alfred-Wegener-Institute Helmholtz centre for Polar and marine research (AWI). The bulk of it dates from the Second world war. Alone on German territory, a total of 1.6 million tonnes are to be conventional weapons in the North sea and the Baltic sea. About 300 000 tons of chemical weapons in the Baltic and North sea. “This is huge, what is there,” says Brenner.
Toxic and explosive
on behalf of the allied fishing should sink after the Second world war, the chemical weapons far out at sea, off the island of Bornholm. According to the Fraunhofer Institute, a lot of ammunition has been tilted but also outside of the marked areas over Board to save some might to fuel. “They have done this partly already on the way there,” says Brenner. There, the dispersion can be “significantly larger” than, for example, in the Skagerak, where all were sunk with chemical weapons-Laden ships. But also by ocean currents, and bottom trawl fisheries, mines, and bombs landed also in places where they should never. This makes it difficult today to find. In the construction of new Pipelines or Offshore wind farms, company encounter not infrequently in such a fight.
for 70 years, it took an interest hardly anyone, which is rusting in the seas. “Best you don’t touch it. The decomposed anyway, it was a long time,” says Brenner. That was wrong that we see today: Many of the bombs can still explode. With time, you will be even more sensitive. A small change in pressure or a blow you can lead to Detonation. “The ammunition body are partially rotted completely. From other explosives occurs,” says Brenner. These toxic substances from both chemical as well as conventional weapons go freely into the sea. The consequences for the environment are significant.
Chemical warfare agent in the cod fillet
The AWI and Partner in the project “Chemsea” a few years ago, the effects of chemicals on the environment explored. The marine biologist burner says that ten to 13 percent of the food fish, cod in the Baltic sea substances from chemical weapons in the fillet had been demonstrated. The amount is low. “It may be that a fish ends up on your plate,” he says. The extent to which these small quantities have an impact on the consumer, had not yet been explored.
In February, the follow-up project “Daimon” (“Decision Aid for naval ammunition ends”), in cooperation with national and international partners. At the beginning of February, the final conference in Bremerhaven, Germany, took place. The researchers had examined the effect of conventional weapons on the environment. The Thünen Institute of fisheries ecology has taken the flatfish DAB under the magnifying glass, the lives on the sea floor in the Bay of Kiel. In this area, about 35 were 000 tonnes of conventional ammunition, says Thomas Long, Deputy Director of the Institute.
fish with liver tumors
25 per cent of the specimens, the researchers found liver tumors. In unpolluted areas, the rate is only 5 percent. “On the ground there is TNT-lumps, which dissolve in the water. The degradation products may enter the water or the food in the organism,” says Lang. Laboratory experiments have shown that the degradation products of TNT to damage the DNA of fish, what is a possible explanation for the high tumor rate. And marketed to the DAB shall not fished however, so that the people there would be no danger.
in addition to environmentalists, the economy has, however, in the interest of freeing the bottom of the sea of ammunition. “The ammunition is a risk for the shipping and for the construction of wind turbines and the Laying of submarine cables,” says Lang. Divers are employed, therefore, constantly trying to rid fairways of the mines, which were actually considered to be unencumbered.
ammo-maps
A made up of research institutions and companies a System to Altmunition better locate and map the designed circuit with the network “Munitect” at the time. With sonar technology and magnetic probes, the war scrap can be tracked down today. However, these procedures are so expensive that they can only be on a random basis and in predetermined areas, said on the website of the network, which is coordinated by the Fraunhofer Institute for Graphical data processing (IGD).
will be tracked samples In this engraving, also of conventional scrap. “The accurate identification of dangerous mines and ammunition bodies is very difficult and is very often performed today by divers,” explains Kristine Bauer, coordinator for the Network at the Fraunhofer IGD. “Munitect” have the goal to be able to in the future, larger areas in a more efficient and accurate search.
“emission-free
mountains blown up” Often the found explosives are brought to the country and the specialist eliminates or – if you are not more capable. Even small pressure changes can bring the bombs to Explode. “That the ordnance bomb disposal unit transported the bombs somewhere and then to the sea beyond, is not, in our sense,” says Brenner. The toxins would only be distributed over a large area in the lake. “What comes into the Baltic sea, in the Baltic sea,” he says. In addition, each of the controlled demolition also meant noise and damage to wildlife. In the East and the North sea also porpoises and seals live. “We postulate that emission-free recovered,” says Brenner.
The Fraunhofer Institute and the University of Leipzig to work together with partners from the economy at exactly such a solution. In the future, a robot to defuse munitions on the sea floor, automatically and without blasting dispose of.
Robotic clearing
ordnance cleanup services, as the company “Boskalis Hirdes” work today with a remote-controlled underwater robots with cameras. This put the struggle, experts examine you and decide what to do with them. The target was the people from the clearing.
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The company will introduce a concept of the robotic retrieval and disposal procedure (“RoBEMM”) in March. As Andreas Jeron of Boskalis Hirdes says, should be cleared with “RoBEMM” non-transport-capable ordnance that still need to be blown up on the spot, “with less negative impact on the environment.” (dpa/rif)
