Conventional ammunition may pose a greater hazard than chemical, due to the fact that it is usually found in shallow waters, where there are many organisms, and the releasing compounds are carcinogenic and enter the food chain," says Prof. Jacek Bełdowski of the Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in an interview with the monthly magazine “Polska Armorna”. Number 4/2025 is inactive on sale.
Ammunition left in the Baltic as a consequence of combat actions. photograph 13 dTr
Although 80 years have passed since the end of planet War II, the Navy inactive has its hands full with ammunition from that time. How much longer can she lay on the bottom of the Baltic?
Prof. Jacek Bełdowski: At the depths of Gotland and Bornholm, where after the Second planet War, the largest deliberate sinkings of chemical ammunition were made, there are 2,000 tonnes and 38,000 tonnes of specified materials respectively. Additionally, there are about 150 1000 tons of combat poisons in the cargo hold of more than 70 wrecks in the Skagerrak Strait.
What about conventional ammunition?
That can't be counted. A number of half a million tonnes is accepted, but more in this guess than in mention to circumstantial indications. We know about 200,000 unextracted seamines, each weighing about a ton. We know the approximate contents of the wreckage hold, but how many air strikes there were, torpedoes that got lost somewhere, can't be determined.
Photo by arch. Jacek Bełdowski
The ammunition lost or left in the Baltic as a consequence of combat actions is 1 thing, but you besides mention the deliberate sinking of chemical ammunition after the war. What did that come from?
Kriegsmarine had already sunk her mortar shells containing taboos in 1945. Further specified actions resulted from the provisions of the Post-Potdam Treaty, which assumed the demilitarisation of Germany. In practice, this meant that the Allies had to take over German ammunition, accept it into their resources or, in the case of chemical ammunition, dispose of it in the manner they considered appropriate.
Throwing missiles into the sea was the easiest way, but was the environmental impact taken into account?
At the time, the state of cognition of oceanography was much lower than it is now, and the belief that nothing lives at large depths prevailed. It was assumed that at the bottom of the sea or the ocean the settlements were calmly laid down and made of this rock. This belief continued in the 1970 ’ s. Much more was known about the impact of chemical ammunition on the terrestrial environment. After planet War I, they were neutralized by burning close Verdun and nothing is increasing there until now, and there are traces of contamination in the surrounding fields.
When did researchers begin to see the problems of sinking ammunition?
Several studies were created in the 1970s and 1980s, besides in Poland, but these were theoretical considerations. It was only in the late 1980s that the Russians actually began to survey the concentration of arsenic in the vicinity of the Bornholm Depth and Skagerrak. The first breakthrough, however, had to be waited until 1995, erstwhile a study by a group from the Baltic Sea Environment Committee, called Helsinki or HELCOM, was published. The decade was later launched by the MERCW (Modelling of Ecological Risks Related to Sea-Dumped Chemical Weapons), which was the first integrated European Union task focused on this issue.
Photo by arch. Jacek Bełdowski
What did the threat modeling look like?
As part of the MERCW, sonars were studied in Bornolm depth, sediment contamination was sought, and the cognition at the time was low. Scientists were looking for decay products, which they predicted only theoretically. They calculated what chemicals should be found in contaminated sediments, and on the basis of the results from the samples they concluded that the ipyrite was not a problem. They felt that he was either not free at all, or that he had already disintegrated, and there was no sign of him. Interestingly, specified a “discovery” was presented a fewer years after the publication of scientists from the Military method Academy, who in 2001 examined a lump and a surface caught by fishermen. Poles have proved that the iperite in the marine environment is broken down into 50 different harmful compounds that MERCW specialists did not have in their research.
Another specified survey has already taken place with you.
In 2010, I was invited to update the 1995 HELCOM study as 1 of the experts on sediment pollution. The global group besides included colleagues from the Naval Academy, with whom I continued to cooperate on subsequent projects. That is erstwhile a full series of EU and Natov initiatives began, which continues to this day.
Sampling sediments close chemical weapons. photograph by Jacek Bełdowski
The threat to the environment from the sunk ammunition is frequently presented as a nomen omen ticking a bomb that at any point must explode. Do you agree with that vision?
The ticking bomb is 1 of the theories that all ammunition will yet corrode will lead to environmental disaster and demolition of life in the Baltic. The opposing position is that the weapon lying on the seabed corrodes at different rates, depending on the conditions prevailing in the area, so there can be no abrupt contamination. In addition, the proponents of this explanation say – most ammunition is found in respective clusters, the sea is large, so if contamination occurs, it is alternatively local. The ecosystem will be weakened, but the Baltic will not die. Who's right? Unfortunately, we do not know this without monitoring, which is simply a repetitive and long-term survey of the variability of conditions in a peculiar place. And researchers don't get the money for that.
In natural science, it is crucial to identify risks and risks. Researchers agree that the threat is certain due to the fact that we know examples of toxic materials that release from ammunition into the Baltic waters. But the hazard must relate to a peculiar organism or population. A breakthrough in the indication of hazard can bring our research, which we will carry out in 2026 on cod larvae. At 1 point they are at a depth of 60 m, or 20 m above the sunk chemical ammunition – we will so examine to what degree specified a "barrier" protects larvae from contamination.
I would add that conventional ammunition can pose a higher hazard than chemical ammunition, due to the fact that it is usually found in shallow waters, where there are many organisms, and the releasing compounds are carcinogenic and enter the food chain. Chemical ammunition is in turn more toxic, but sunk further from the shore and fish that hit our plates have little contact with it. That does not mean that fish fishing is not carried out in the vicinity of the sinkings of poisonous agents despite warnings.
What another threats are posed by the presence of chemical ammunition in the Baltic?
Such ammunition is in most cases sunk deep and after 80 years no longer moves. Just after the war, there were cases that bombs or another missiles were thrown to the beach and people were in contact with them. As a result, they ended up in a infirmary with burns, losing their sight, etc. Today, the real threat is mainly caused by white phosphorus, which is light and escapes from corroded incendiary bombs. In the area of the Bay of Riga and the island of Uznam, there are inactive dangerous burns, due to the fact that the white phosphorus found on the shore resembles lumps of amber. erstwhile you put it in your pocket, after drying and warming your body, this “sun” begins to burn rapidly.
Photo Ariel Szczepanski/13 dTr
In fresh times, the Navy has begun detonation in the Gulf of Gdańsk around 1,200 kg of explosives, including artillery missiles and air bombs. How frequently are specified actions carried out?
As scientists, we do not know. Or rather, we only know what's in the media. The Navy conducts specified intervention erstwhile wartime ammunition is detected on the occasion of various investment work, but does not include us in its activities. We would like to know what methods they use, in which area they detonate, how this affects the fauna, but attempts to get specified information have not produced any results. I presume that individual cases are consulted with environmental agencies. Many questions in this substance can be answered by a report, which collects legal regulations from all over the Baltic Sea, including the engagement of the Naval Academy.
What is the MUNIMAP task you are presently doing?
This is another global initiative, which consists in creating a road map for remediation – that is, reducing the amount of substances that endanger the environment or reducing their spread – chemical and conventional ammunition sunk in the Baltic. MUNIMAP assumes a comprehensive approach to examining and solving the problem. Or rather, the creation of manuals of service to be utilized by the Baltic States. The program began in February 2024, shortly conferences will begin and recommendations will appear. In addition, we operate straight at sea, assessing the effectiveness of remediation, we will conduct bottom mapping with the latest methods, and we will besides sink the monitoring strategy close 1 of the ammunition wrecks. From each specified cruise, we besides bring samples to check the presence of bacteria decomposing explosives or combat poisons.
In short, the occupation is working.
There's a lot going on, and luckily, we're not the only ones dealing with the problem of sunk ammunition. Soon, a large programme financed from the National Reconstruction Plan, supervised by the Maritime Office in Gdynia, will be launched. It assumes the examination by AMW, the Maritime University and private companies of 2 wrecks and the location close the Gdańsk Deep and Ryna Słupska. We have known for a long time that chemical weapons are there, but we do not know whether contamination is increasing, and if so, if so. Starting specified investigation is so a very essential and long-awaited step.
Prof. Jacek Bełdowski is an worker of the Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He deals with the subject of chemical and conventional ammunition lying at the bottom of the Baltic, among others as coordinator of EU and Natov investigation programmes.
