Environment
Permanent recovery of ammunition from the sea planned from 2026
“Around 1.6 million tons of rusting old ammunition in the North Sea and Baltic Sea represent an increasing danger to people and the environment,” says Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke. photo
© Axel Heimken/dpa
Huge amounts of old World War II ammunition are rusting away in the North and Baltic Seas. Salvage operations are scheduled to begin in the Bay of Lübeck in the spring.
The federal and state governments don’t want to start making it permanent until two years at the earliest Start salvaging ammunition and weapons from the North and Baltic Seas. This should begin in 2026, said the Federal Government’s Maritime Commissioner, Sebastian Unger, to the German Press Agency. “In view of the large quantities, the recovery of ammunition in the North Sea and Baltic Sea is a generational task.” A pilot project will start in the spring.
With these pilot recoveries, experts want to gather information about the condition of recovered ordnance. These experiences will be incorporated into the development of a floating waste disposal facility. The work is expected to take six months and begin in April. Two areas are in the Bay of Lübeck and one in the northeast.
In its coalition agreement, the federal government agreed to launch an immediate program to tackle the recovery of ammunition and warfare agents from the North and Baltic Seas. Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke said: “Around 1.6 million tonnes of rusting old ammunition in the North Sea and Baltic Sea represent an increasing danger to people and the environment.”