An international conference on munitions waste in the sea has started in Kiel. The Kiel Munition Clearance Week 2025 (KMCW25) brings together stakeholders from politics and authorities, industry and science, the military and environmental organizations in the Schleswig-Holstein state capital until Friday.
The event is organized by the Schleswig-Holstein State Ministry for Energy Transition, Climate Protection, Environment and Nature (MEKUN) and the Kiel-based technology company north.io.
“World War II munitions threaten to become one of the largest sources of pollution in our oceans”, said State Environment Minister Tobias Goldschmidt (Greens) at the opening. He noted hat the issue has now gained political prominence.
The new federal coalition has also committed to recovery efforts, Goldschmidt emphasized. However, there is still no agreement on “who will pay for which parts of the munitions recovery work”. He urged the federal government to tackle this challenge with greater urgency.
From a scientific perspective, Katja Matthes stressed the need for immediate action. “The ammunition casings are increasingly rusting through and pollutants are leaking out,” said the Director of the Geomar Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel.
Matthes spoke of regular expeditions to the Kolberger Heide area in the Baltic Sea. “There, you can see exposed munitions full of holes, like Swiss cheese. And every time we return a few weeks later, the corrosion has progressed further”
Munitions cleanup called a “luxury problem”
Jann Wendt, the initiator of KMCW and head of north.io, described the clearence of these sites as a massive task. At the same time, he called the clearance a “luxury problem” compared to the challenges faced elsewhere in other parts of the world. There are some regions that face have more acute issues, where people are already working on long-term solutions.
Notably, a Ukranian delegation is participating in the conference. In Ukraine, waterways are currently being contaminated with munitions as a result of the ongoing war with Russia.
According to a 2011 estimate, around 1.6 million tons of old munitions are believed to lie on the seabed of the German North Sea and Baltic Sea. These entered the water due to maritime actions, training excercises, accidents, and, in many cases, deliberate dumping after World War II.
In principle, these munitions still pose an explosion risk today, especially during offshore work operation. In addition, the gradual corrosion is releasing toxic substances into the maritime environment in the long term.
The KMCW addresses the issue from angles, including environmentally responsible clearance and the political framework needed to support. A key topic is the €100 million emergency program launched by the previous federal government in 2024. The conference also focuses on technical solutions such as underwater detection and classification. Additional attention is being given to maritime security, including the protection of critical underwater infrastructure (KRITIS) and growing hybrid threats in maritime domains, according to the organizers.
