BERLIN/Germany: The German government plans to launch a pilot project to recover munitions, much of it dating back to World War II, from the North Sea and Baltic Sea, Environment Minister Steffi Lemke said in Berlin on Friday.
“The dangers from old munitions increase from year to year,” Lemke told an event behind closed doors in remarks released to journalists. She stressed the urgency of the problem.
Environment Ministry sources said that construction on a salvage platform was due to start in the second half of this year, with salvage operations beginning next year or in early 2025.
The initial work would be done in the Baltic Sea, they said, without providing further detail.
Lemke noted that €100 million ($106 million) had been set aside for the operation up to 2025 under a coalition agreement involving both central government and the states concerned.
According to the ministry, some 1.6 million tons of old munition are lying on the seafloor, most of it deriving from World War II.
“For decades, little regard was paid to the munitions waste. Neither the central government nor the states saw themselves as responsible,” Lemke said. She noted that fishers were finding rusting and damaged munitions in their nets and that pollutants could enter the human food chain through fish and shellfish.
