The Baltic is for all of us. How to resolve the problem of the Baltic wrecks?

The Baltic is for all of us. How to resolve the problem of the Baltic wrecks?

What are the threats posed by the wrecks deposited on the Baltic sea bottom? What could be the potential effects of a fuel leakage and methods to solve the problems imposed by the Franken shipwreck and similar wrecks? A group of experts who cooperate with the MARE Foundation and the Maritime Institute in Gdańsk answered these questions.

According to scientific research, there are 8-10 thousand wrecks in the Baltic. A minimum of 100 of them can be considered as a high priority wrecks, because they contain significant amount of fuel. Therefore, they are a great potential threat to the environment. These wrecks STUTTGART and FRANKEN wrecks, located in the Polish waters of the Puck Bay and Gdańsk Bay.

The threats posed by wrecks containing fuel consist of, for example, gradual leakages of small amounts of fuel which can last for years and remain unnoticed. There are also wrecks which due to progressive corrosion Decay and large amounts of fuel may suddenly be released. This can lead to a formation of a large spill on the surface - says Jorma Rytkönen from the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) and the Chair of the HELCOM SUBMERGED Group.

The leakage of oil from the Stuttgart wreck located in the Puck Bay started in 1999. The wreck and the polluted area around it are subject of several studies carried out by, among others,  the Medical University in Gdańsk or the Maritime Institute in Gdańsk. The studies carried out in 2015 indicate that the area contaminated by the oil spill from Stuttgart wreck has increased 5 times in 16 years and now amounts to 415 thousand square metres. The state of the marine environment in the immediate vicinity of the wreck can be described as a local ecological disaster. Research carried out in the area of contamination have shown progressive environmental degradation and a constantly growing contamination zone.

The photographic and video documentation collected during the research expedition in 2018 from the T/S Franken indicates that the tanks that look leak free could hold 4.608 tonnes of different fuels. We know, that at the time of the sinking the ship was carrying fuel in the amount of 2.7 thousand tonnes (3136 m3), not including the fuel for the ship engine. Almost half of the tanks are still closed (5 out of 13), without access, therefore they can still contain oil. Sealed tanks have a capacity of 573 tonnes up to 1221 tonnes. Oil from even one unsealed tank could contaminate the water and shores of the Gdańsk Bay. Heavy oil from the tanks could only cause local contamination of the sea bottom like the Stuttgart wreck, but on a larger scale. It is therefore very important to undertake preventive measures in order to examine and clean the Franken shipwreck, as well as other wrecks in the Polish waters.  

Franken should be treated as a wreck posing the greatest risk of fuel spill. There is a need to undertake actions to accurately assess the risk of contamination and the condition of the wreck – concludes Benedykt Hac from the Maritime Institute in Gdańsk.

How do other Baltic countries deal with the problem of wrecks?

The BONUS SWERA project conducted in Finland is aimed at wreck research in the Finnish waters, creation of a database of dangerous wrecks, validation of the risk assessment tool VRAKA, modification of the existing assessment model to include the risk assessment of potential methods used to retrieve the fuel and elaboration of new innovative methods of wreck cleaning. Moreover, Finland has just started a governmental programme for wreck management, planned for 2019-2021, aimed at implementing the measures included in the HELCOM Baltic Action Plan. The project is implemented with the state budget granted annually by the parliament. The aim of the programme is to carry out the fuel retrieval operation from selected wrecks, as well as to verify if the governmental institutions have the competences and resources to carry out such operations.

In Sweden, the national wreck programme is coordinated by the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (SWAM). SWAM coordinates the research and cleaning of wrecks from fuel substances and ghost nets, as well as the programme of risk assessment and remediation of environmentally hazardous wrecks.

Following the Finnish and Swedish examples, Poland should start the work on the wreck management without delay. Its main goal should be conducting risk assessment of wrecks and undertaking preventive measures. Prevention should play the key role in the process. It will permit to protect the environment against oil spills and substantially decrease the costs of such operations – says Olga Sarna from the MARE Foundation.

The next steps…

Experts unanimously admit that it will not be possible to solve the problem of Baltic wrecks without international cooperation. It is all the more important because potential oil spills will affect all Baltic countries.

Ville Peltokorpi, layer and diver working for the Helsinki University and Badewanne underlined that cooperation is the key factor, because the Baltic countries cope with the same problems. The mandate of compensation funds should be extended in order to use the existing funding for preventive measures and at the same time collect more money for cleaning operations.

Therefore, the MARE Foundation and the Maritime Institute in Gdańsk in cooperation with international experts started the work on the general methodology of oil removal operations on Baltic shipwrecks. The pilot character of the project gives hope that these measures will be used for hazardous wrecks in the Baltic and will be the drivers for better protection of the Baltic ecosystem. The project will end in January 2020.

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