Clean! Disposal of munitions remnants in German waters

Rheinmetall and WilNor Governmental Services will collaborate with experienced Norwegian and German companies to remove munitions contamination from German waters. In the upcoming tender of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) for the immediate program "Munitions Contamination in the North and Baltic Seas," both partners will contribute their combination of maritime and technical expertise.

As announced in a recently published statement by German Naval Yards in Kiel, Rheinmetall is bringing together competent partners to respond to the upcoming tender from BMUV. This partnership will bring together the experience and infrastructure of Rheinmetall, WilNor Governmental Services, and a comprehensive group of companies. This cooperation combines high expertise and convincing technologies to safely and responsibly dispose of munitions contamination from the sea. Rheinmetall has extensive and long-standing expertise in munitions disposal. In the past, the Düsseldorf-based technology group has designed and implemented concepts and facilities for munitions disposal.
WilNor Governmental Services, a subsidiary of the Wilhelmsen Group, contributes the logistical and maritime element. The Wilhelmsen Group from Norway forms the world's largest maritime network with business activities in logistics solutions for the offshore industry, sea transport, offshore-based new energy, ship management, and complex logistical solutions for operations in challenging environmental conditions.
The partners plan to jointly develop and operate an innovative platform for munitions disposal at sea. Contaminated areas will be cleaned directly offshore on the platform in a safe process, minimizing the dangers to the underwater world and its inhabitants.

Future Plans for the Oceans

Plans for future offshore wind farms in the same waters require a safe seabed. To enable this, the responsible and safe removal of several million tons of munitions contamination is required.

"We want to ensure a cleaner and healthier marine environment. It is important to us that we carefully retrieve the munitions and render them harmless on the spot. This way, we avoid risks from transporting the ammunition. With our approach, we protect the underwater world and its inhabitants to the best of our ability and prevent future dangers," said Deniz Akitürk, Managing Director of Rheinmetall Project Solutions GmbH. "Time is of the essence, as the condition of the munitions is deteriorating. Environmental impacts are already visible."

The consortium is ready to quickly implement a reliable process chain for the disposal of munitions contamination and to begin detection and preparation for classification and packaging in spring 2024. Once all preparations and necessary regulatory processes are completed, the consortium is ready to build the innovative offshore platform.

The companies involved are capable of expanding from a pilot facility to a fully industrialized value chain. Likewise, the consortium can operate multiple platforms in various operation areas simultaneously.

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