On June 11, the European munition research, including CONMAR, of course, invited participants of the conference to an official UNOC3 side event on the research vessel Meteor under the motto: No time to waste: Tackling submerged munitions in European Seas. More than 70 international guests attended to learn about the topic of munition in the sea and the latest developments in solving the problem. The event was organized by GEOMAR, together with the BMUKN and HELCOM. Following the welcoming remarks (by Jens Greinert, GEOMAR, and Sebastian Unger, BMUKN), a panel discussion was held on the topic The Baltic Perspective: front-runner regional approaches to addressing a global threat with the participation of Rüdiger Strempel, Executive Secretary, HELCOM, Finland; Delilah Al Khudhairy, Director, Maritime Policy and Blue Economy Unit, European Commission (DG MARE), Belgium, Agnieszka Jędruch, Researcher at IOPAN, Poland, and Stefan Mehlhase, Marine Pollution Officer, BMUKN, Germany. Afterwards, participants were able to learn about various aspects of marine munition, such as the detection of munitions in the sea, legal aspects, impacts on the environment and the blue economy, and potential safety risks. The European munition network was also presented. We look back on an exciting exchange in an international setting on the beautiful METEOR. We would like to take tis opportunity to express our sincere thanks to everyone who made this event possible and helped to organize it. The CONMAR team was represenetd by Romina Schuster (AWI), Torsten Frey, Mareike Keller, Jens Greinert and Daniela Henkel (all GEOMAR) Special thanks go to the UNOC3 team at PtJ and the entire crew of the Meteor.
Daniela Henkel, GEOMAR
Photos by Sarah Uphoff/ GEOMAR