Sea-dumped munition:

present and future approach

in Belgium

Tine Missiaen, Maarten De Rijcke, Sven Van Haelst

Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ)

The Challenges of Unexploded Munitions – Brussels, 20 - 02 - 2019

Challenges of sea-dumped munition

dumpsitebeach

Munition dumpsites

• Large concentrations

• Location mostly known

• Chemical + conventional

Belgium: Paardenmarkt site

Munition in wrecks

• Mainly ships

• WW1 + WW2

• Location mostly known

Belgium: ~140 wrecksites

Loose munition

• Low concentration

• Difficult to predict

• Exposed + buried

Unknown number

© North Sea wrecks

1. The Paardenmarkt dumpsite

Zeebrugge harbour

dumpsite

2 km

beach

Dumped warfare

WW1 munition (dumped in 1919-1920)

• Loose / cases / pallets

• Conventional + Chemical

• Mainly 77–105 –150 mm shells

• Estimated total ~ 35.000 tons

Archive research: could be higher

• Estimated chemical munition ~ 30%

Archive research: could be higher

Chemical warfare agents

• Chloropicrin

• (Di)phosgene

• Clark I & II

• Mustard gas

unkown

ratio

+ Explosives and propellant

© DOVO

Geophysical monitoring

Detailed survey in 2013

• Central concentration

• Dispersed clusters

All munition is buried

BUT

exact depth uncertain

(between 2-6 m)

First magnetic survey in 1989

=> preliminary delimitation zone (quadrangle)

Second magnetic survey in 1995

=> final delimitation zone (pentagon)

© RCMG

© G-Tec

Regular sampling since 1995 (every 2-

3 years)

Inside + outside dumpsite (reference)

• sediment (50 cm, 6 cm Ø)

• water (just above seafloor)

Strict safety precautions, in close collaboration with military

Until 2017: no pollution detected

From 2018: new passive sampling technique applied

Recently TNT presence detected

Chemical monitoring

© DOVO

© DOVO

More knowledge is needed for a sound evaluation

Current approach is under pressure

Current approach:

leave as is and monitor regularly

Under increasing pressure:

• Shells are leaking

• Consequences still unclear

• Future plans Zeebrugge area

• Removal of munition has been

suggested

Possible navigation channel ?

New national research (2020-2024)

DISARM Project (Dumpsites of munitions: Integrated Science Approach to

Risk and Management)

Consortium:

• Flanders Marine Institute (coordinator)

• Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences

• Antwerp Maritime Academy

• Ghent University

• University of Antwerp

• Royal Military Academy

Integrated use of novel techniques => what is the current risk of the dumpsite

• depth sounding => exact burial depth

• groundwater flux => pollution of groundwater?

• sampling close to buried munition => pollution radius

• biological degradation of toxic chemicals

Scientifically underpinned management approach

2. Shipwrecks in the BCS

• 140 wrecksites from WW1 and WW2

• Mainly ships + U-boats

• 6 Airplanes

• Unknown amount + state of munition© T. Termote

© Onroerend Erfgoed – photo Nicolas Mouchart

© Onroerend Erfgoed – photo Sven Van Haelst

Depth bomb on

WW2 wreck

(V-1302)

Torpedo bomb

on WW1 U-boat

Interreg project “North Sea Wrecks” (2018-2022)

Consortium

• Research institutes

• Public authorities for maritime safety

• Private companies dealing with wrecks and UXO

• Germany, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway

Major objective:

Assess and propose solutions for risk mitigation regarding munition

contained in wrecks

Belgium coordinates WP3:

Perform 4 case studies at wrecks in the North Sea

• corrosion rates

• sedimentation rates

• toxicological exposure & effects

Identification of hazards

Risk assessment

3. Detection of loose dumped munition

Major challenges:

• Accurate depth information of buried munition

• Reliable identification of munition (exposed/buried)

• Efficient detection (fast, inexpensive)

New EU proposal: BASTA (Boost Applied munition detection through

Smart data inTegration and AI workflows) (subm. Jan 2019)

Consortium of research institutes + private companies

• Geomar (G)

• Flanders Marine Institute (B)

• EGEOS (G)

• G-Tec (B)

BASTA project

Main goals:

• UHR 3D acoustic subbottom imaging

=> accurate depth/size info

• Intelligent AUV-based mapping

=> fast/efficient detection

• AI methods using multi-sensor database

=> objective identification

• User-friendly representation

=> including uncertainty levels

• Data quality & workflow definitions

© Geomar

© Geomar

Thank you for your attention