Ticking time bombs in the Baltic -the report of the Supreme Audit Office (NIK).
On 30th May 2020 the Polish Supreme Audit Office (NIK) published the long-awaited report on preventing the threats resulting from dumped hazardous materials in the Baltic. The audit of NIK was carried out as a result of the campaign carried out by the MARE Foundation and confirms the urgent need to address the problem of wrecks in the Baltic and to implement adequate measures.
These are great news for the Baltic. This is also a sign that our activities aimed at changing the framework with regard to the wreck management bring results! - says Olga Sarna from the MARE Foundation.
The report clearly indicates that both the maritime administration and the environmental authorities had not recognised the threats resulting from oil deposited in Baltic wrecks as well as chemical munition. The risk of oil spills and contamination had not been assessed and measures to prevent the identified risks had not been undertaken. This could lead to an ecological disaster of unpredicted scale. The greatest risk is posed by the wrecks from the Second World War, Stuttgart and Franken. Fuel is already leaking from the Stuttgart wreck and Franken may collapse at any time due to corrosion and cause a terrible environmental disaster. On addition, several dozen tonnes of chemical munition and poisonous substances, including the most dangerous sulphur mustard may be deposited in the area of the Gdańsk Deep. Since the war, several cases of burns caused by this substance have been reported by fishermen and tourists.
The Supreme Audit Office also draws attention to the fact that the risks resulting from oil deposited in wrecks and chemical munition in the Baltic have not been fully recognised. The maritime administration and environmental authorities hold each other accountable for implementing the preventive measures with regard to these risks and do not recognise their competences. The Supreme Audit Office clearly indicates the responsibilities resulting from the existing regulations in the field of risk identification. The administration had not undertaken any preventive measures with regard to identified risks. The Supreme Audit Office requested the Polish Prime Minister, the Minister of Maritime Economy and the Minister of Climate as well as some relevant local authorities to undertake actions aimed at identifying and mapping hazardous substances dumped in the Polish waters (including chemical munition and oil substances from wrecks), as well as assessing the risk in identified sites where such substances are deposited (bottom inventory), and implementing measures relevant as responses to these identified risks (including the removal of the risk posed directly by the Franken and Stuttgart shipwrecks) and ensuring the financing of these measures.
In 2018 the MARE Foundation started the project Reduction of the negative impact of oil spills from the Franken shipwreck and the media campaign Stop the oil spill. Save the Baltic, which were aimed at drawing attention to the problem of hazardous wrecks in the Baltic, conducting a research expedition on the Franken wreck and creating a preliminary action plan for oil retrieval from the Franken ship wreck as well as a general methodology related to hazardous wreck management in the Baltic.
As a result of our activities, 56 thousand people signed the petition at ratujbaltyk.fundacjamare.pl, thus expressing their support as well as their interest and concern about wrecks containing fuel. We have managed to raise interest of the media, public opinion and decision-makers. The Report of the Supreme Auditor Office is a result of the actions undertaken by the MARE Foundation.
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More information on the report of the Supreme Audit Office can be found HERE.
More on the project: https://ratujbaltyk.fundacjamare.pl
See our video footage from the research expedition on the Franken shipwreck (the Gdańsk Bay, April 2018), made by the MARE Foundation and the Maritime Institute in Gdańsk.
See the film made during the international conference THE BALTIC WRECKS (Warsaw, February 2019), organised by the MARE Foundation and the Maritime Institute in Gdańsk. Several international experts answer the question on actions needed with respect to shipwrecks and what is done in other countries.