Challenge

On the sandbank De Paardenmarkt, located in the North Sea about 1.5 kilometers off the coast of Knokke, there is an estimated 35,000 tons of dumped ammunition (mainly) from WWI. This includes both conventional and chemical ammunition. To date, there is no danger to the marine environment or human health, but there is an ongoing risk of rusting through or ripping through (due to ship collisions) the (chemical) munitions, resulting in heavy (chemical) pollution. Moreover, the ammunition dump at De Paardenmarkt could in the future be an obstacle to coastal safety in general and to further developments around the port of Zeebrugge in particular.

As part of this PIO project, the Maritime Access Division of the Flemish government's Department of Mobility and Public Works (MOW) wanted to carry out a test to demonstrate the innovative way in which this ammunition dump could be cleaned up safely, time and cost-efficiently. The following topics were covered: precision detection of the position of the munitions, continuous monitoring of the environment, removal of overlying sediments, deepening of the munitions and safe transportation to the mainland with robot technology.

The intent of the test was to use innovative survey systems and robotic technology to locate a piece (or "unit") of munitions several meters below the seafloor as precisely as possible within the wider munitions dump and, regardless of the type or condition of the piece, to excavate and land it, minimizing risks to humans and the marine environment. If successful, the solutions tested could be used for a large-scale cleanup of the site.