The initiative, known as "Baltwreck," is spearheaded by the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, southern Poland.
Researchers have noted that the Baltic seabed is the resting place of some 20,000 known wrecks of both military and civilian ships, with about 10 percent of them known to be sources of pollution due to leaking fuels or remains of submerged ammunition.
Over 80 years after World War II, hazardous substances such as carcinogenic pyrolytic oil are still seeping from some of these corroded structures.
The "Baltwreck" project, coordinated by the Institute of Fluid-Flow Machinery of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IMP PAN), involves 14 partners and aims to develop advanced technologies for detecting and removing dangerous substances from wrecks.
The project also includes analyzing the impact of submerged ammunition on marine ecosystems.
Michał Silarski from the Jagiellonian University's Department of Experimental Physics of Particles and its Applications is leading efforts to test new methods for detecting hazardous materials in the sea. He has developed a highly-rated project called "Non-invasive sensor for detecting hazardous materials in the aquatic environment," which has been recognized as the top grant by the Foundation for Polish Science under the First Team initiative.
The sensor operates on the principle of neutron activation of substances and the measurement of characteristic gamma quanta spectra emitted after irradiation with a neutron beam. This method allows for remote chemical composition analysis of a suspicious object without endangering human life or health.
The project, formally entitled "Preventing mass chemical pollution of marine waters from leaky wrecks and ammunition/weapons depots in the southern Baltic," launched on July 1 and will continue for three years.
It has a total budget of EUR 3.83 million, with EUR 3.06 million funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg South Baltic Programme.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP
