Fugro has joined the Clearance Activities for Marine Munitions through Efficient Remediation Approaches (CAMMERA) consortium led by Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel.
This three-year initiative aims to develop safe and environmentally responsible methods to remove unexploded ordnance (UXO) from European seas, where 1.6 million tonnes of such munitions are estimated to lie on the seafloor of the German Baltic and North Sea alone.
Fugro said that the UXOs date back to the two World Wars and that they are increasingly unstable and pose a growing environmental and safety risk.
As the casings of these munitions corrode, toxic substances like TNT, a carcinogenic and mutagenic compound, leak into the ocean and threaten marine biodiversity, human safety, and fishing industries.
Building on extensive research and the experience of previous EU-funded projects, the consortium is focused on implementing new technologies for large-scale UXO recovery.
“CAMMERA is designed to develop environmentally friendly, comprehensive, and efficient technologies for the removal, disposal, and neutralisation of underwater munitions," said Christos Economou, Deputy Director for Maritime Policy and Blue Economy at the European Commission's DG MARE. "The European Commission is hopeful that the project will pilot UXO cleanup solutions at an industrial scale."
As part of the consortium, Fugro will lead two key areas of work. The first involves designing specialised tools for remotely operated vehicles to access, extract, and safely contain the hazardous material for disposal by designated partners.
The second will assess how these technologies can be adapted for use in other regions, including the North Sea, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic Ocean.
Fugro said the findings will help shape a business case framework for future EU Parliament-supported programmes.
