Shipwrecks and dumped munitions continue to be a major hazard in the North Sea. Research within the EU Interreg project North Sea Wrecks (NSW), in cooperation with the German Aerospace Agency, Institute for the Protection of Maritime Infrastructures (DLR), is generating new insights into the status of wrecks, the potential leakage of pollutants from munitions and the effects of these pollutants on exposed marine organisms in the North Sea. Historical documents are compared to models and visual inspections of the wreck, and samples of water, sediment and organisms are analysed. Combining the results of these different fields of research gives a better understanding of the environmental risks associated with these wrecks. This process is shown below using the case study of the German light cruiser SMS MAINZ, which sank in 1914.

The research work was co-funded by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund) under the North Sea Interreg Programme 2014-2020. Research as conducted, within the framework of the project "North Sea Wrecks - An Opportunity for Blue Growth: Healthy Environment, Shipping, Energy Production and –transmission (NSW).