PROJECT
Baltwreck
Preventing massive marine waters chemical pollution from the leaking wrecks and munition/ weapon dumps in the South Baltic
PROGRAMME
Total budget: 3,830,285.76 €
ERDF funding: 3,064,228.60 €
Duration: 2024–2027
Lead Partner: Institute of Fluid-Flow Machinery Polish Academy of Sciences
Consortium: 14 partners from Poland, Lithuania, Germany and Sweden
PROJECT
OBJECTIVE
The BALTWRECK objective is to contribute to reducing pollution of the Baltic Sea by hazardous fuel, munitions and other remains of shipwrecks by jointly developing, demonstrating and implementing wreck management methods.
EXPECTED
RESULTS
Results will include:
- efficient wrecks diagnostics methods,
- in-situ remediation technologies for hazardous fuels from wrecks as well as munition and explosives,
- testing the developed solutions in at least 3 pilot locations, and
- examining the toxicological risk for marine ecosystems caused by dumped munitions and hydrocarbon deposits.
Last but not least, the recommendations for policy makers, local marine and cities administration will be formulated.
The project aims to include municipalities located in the vicinity of wrecks in the decision process, by raising awareness of decision makers and general public via a series of workshops and conferences, as well as public information campaign.
KEY AREAS
The BALTWRECK project concentrates on four key areas:
Policy
Risk Assessment
& decision making
Remediation
Public Awareness
PROJECT
PARTNERS
The BALTWRECK Consortium consists of 14 partners and is coordinated by the Institute of Fluid-Flow Machinery PAS.
1. Institute of Fluid-Flow Machinery Polish Academy of Sciences (https://www.imp.gda.pl)
2. University of Gdańsk (https://ug.edu.pl)
3. Association of Polish Communes Euroregion Baltic (https://eurobalt.org.pl/en/home-en)
4. Gdynia Maritime University (https://umg.edu.pl/en)
5. Klaipeda University (https://www.ku.lt/en)
6. Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research in Warnemünde (io-warnemuende.de/en_index.html)
7. JT Ship Service Tomasz Jatkowski
8. Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (https://www.geomar.de/en)
9. Nature Research Centre (https://gamtostyrimai.lt/en)
10. Chalmers University of Technology (https://www.chalmers.se/en)
11. German Environment Agency (https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/en)
12. North.io LtD. (https://north.io/en)
13. CLEANERGY LtD. (www.bioecoph.pl)
14. Jagiellonian University (https://en.uj.edu.pl/en_GB/start)
PROJECT
NEWS
BaltWreck to Join EUSBSR Forum 2026
BaltWreck consortium will be participating in the upcoming Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) held between 11th and 13th of May in Tallinn. This key event, themed “resilience and security,” will be the perfect platform to showcase efforts to clean up the Baltic Sea.Agenda include key issues for South Baltic region:-Prevention of catastrophic pollution – how to effectively stop fuel and chemical leaks from wrecks and ammunition dumps.-Innovative diagnostics – the use of AI
Baltwreck Meets Pomeranian Authorities
Cooperation with key regional institutions is essential to effectively counteract the environmental threats posed by wrecks lying at the bottom of the Baltic Sea.On February 26th, the Baltwreck project team met with Adam Gawrylik, Member of the Pomeranian Provincial Executive Board. The purpose of the meeting was to exchange information about project activities and discuss the challenges of managing polluted wrecks. Discussion touched such key topics as:Project status: the progress made in identifying and researching wrecks of high ecological priority.Challenges:
EU Strategy on Seabed Munitions
On 12 February 2026, a special expert session was held in Brussels at the European Commission to develop an EU strategy for the removal of unexploded ordnance (UXO) as part of the European Ocean Pact.Unexploded ordnance and dumped munitions on the seabed are not only a matter of safety – they also pose serious environmental, infrastructural, and spatial planning challenges.During the meeting, Dr. Anita Künitzer from the Umweltbundesamt (partner of the BALTWRECK project) presented the results of the MUNIMAP project,
Oceanograf Cruise: Investigating Baltic Sea Wrecks
As part of the BALTWRECK project, the cruise explored shipwrecks on the Baltic Sea floor, documenting sites and collecting visual material on environmental risks from sunken vessels. Short video reels show on-board activities, research equipment, and underwater observations, providing insight into the complexity of studying historical wrecks and supporting outreach by communicating the project’s objectives. Watch video:
MEDIA
CONTACT
If you have any questions regarding the project, feel free to contact us via the contact form.