Baltic Sea contains a dark legacy of ca. 50.000 tons (net weight, without metal surroundings) of dumped chemical warfare agents (CWAs) and at least 200.000 tons (gross weight) of conventional munitions originating from the WWI and II.
In addition, outside the cost of Norway were dumped c.a. 45.000 (net) tons of CWAs in Skagerrak and 200.000 (gross) tons of conventional munitions on other places. In Sweden outside Måseskär also in Skagerrak c.a. 20.000 (net) tons of CWA were dumped. There is a constant release of contaminants, either due to corrosion of the shells or due to anthropogenic disturbance. The question which the DAIMON project (2016-2019, budget 4.7M EUR, part-financed by the EU INTERREG Baltic Sea Region Programme 2014-2020) took up is how to proceed with the identified underwater warfare objects. Remediation or no action are subject to heated disputes among the decision-makers. Since there cannot be a general answer to this question, we developed decision aid tools to support the Baltic Sea Region governments and companies in case-to-case decision-making:
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Decision Aid for Marine Munitions: Practical Application
was an international applied-science project consisting of partners from Poland, Germany, Sweden, Finland and Norway collaborating with experts worldwide, united by the goal of solving the problem of underwater munitions. Its budget was roughly 900k EUR and was part-financed by the EU INTERREG Baltic Sea Region Programme 2014-2020. Teaser of the documentary film Baltic UXO, directed by Alexander Belinski and Agne Dovydaityte, shot during the DAIMON2 training on R/V Oceania in October 2021.
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