434
Hjalmar THIEL
a distance of 215 nautical miles from the Portuguese
coast [Working Group on Seabed Activities (SEBA),
1995], but any substance transported away with the
currents would arrive in international waters or those
of neighbouring states.
For more than 200 years defective, obsolete and
surplus munitions have been disposed of at sea. The
largest dumping actions occurred after World War II,
but most of the material remained in shallow waters
where mustard gas, particularly, caused health problems
to fishermen. Deep-water dumping of munitions is
reported in a few further cases: a total of 137 000
tonnes of chemical weapons were dumped at several
sites, the deepest at a depth of 4500 m and a distance
of 350 nautical miles south-west of Britain, others
at depths between 500 and 3000 m 55 nautical miles
north-west of Northern Ireland, 45–90 nautical miles
west of the Hebrides, and in and at the edge of
the Rockall Trough. One of these operations included
17 000 tonnes of bombs filled with tabun
2 , but other
munitions contained sarin, phosgene and mustard gas
(Advisory Committee on Pollution of the Sea, 1988;
Hencke, 1995). Britain terminated the dumping of
redundant munition and explosive stocks at the end of
1992. The last deep water dump site in use was located
some 400 nautical miles off southwestern Britain at
a depth of about 4500 m (Oslo Commission, 1992).
According to Tornes et al. (1989), probably 38 ships
with more than 150 000 tonnes of chemical munitions
were scuttled, some in the North Sea, some in the
Skagerrak at a depth of 600–700 m, and others in the
Norwegian Sea at great depth.
This list of dumpings of munitions in deep waters
could be extended. The examples are taken from
European sources but include only part of Europe, and
other countries may have dumped munitions similarly.
Much of the material may have ended up in shelf
regions, other parts of it on continental slopes or on
abyssal plains. Although dumping has been regulated
under the London Convention since 1975, military
forces have generally been exempted under “sovereign
immunity” provisions from these regulations. Not
much can be found on military dumping in the
open literature, since most information is confidential.
The Contracting Parties of the London Convention
in 1972 agreed to refrain from munition dumping at
sea and to use alternative methods, such as controlled
incineration in rotary kilns [Working Group on Seabed
Activities (SEBA), 1996].
For marine scientists, it is difficult to understand how
during the last decades, during which environmental
consciousness has been well developed and has continued to grow, any country could have applied for
exemption from environmental regulations. However,
all international conventions exempt activities related
to sovereign immunity, including military aspects,
unless Contracting Parties declare otherwise. The
London Convention and its 1996 Protocol impose
responsibilities on the Governments of member states
to ensure consistency with the object and purpose of
the convention.
Additionally, it seems that dumping sites have rarely
been investigated or monitored. Environmental impacts
have never been studied, but it is to be expected that
they may be both physical and chemical in nature.
Upon the arrival of a munition-loaded ship on the
seafloor, a large plume will be created, which will settle
down-current from the wreck. The finer particles may
drift away, but within a single event high concentrations
in the plume may be of restricted duration. Impacts
around the wreck may cover several square kilometres,
but recolonization should proceed over many years, as
was demonstrated by an experiment described below
on disturbance and recolonization related to deep-sea
mining (see p. 452) (Schriever et al., 1997; Borowski
and Thiel, 1998).
No observations have been made on the disintegration of munitions in the deep sea. Whereas some
agents of chemical warfare degrade completely in
seawater (e.g., phosgene and Clark II
3 ), others (such as
Clark I, Adamsite and Lewisite) may release poisonous
arsenical substances. They may become dissolved and
transported by currents, or they may concentrate in
current-quiet corners of the wrecks, while the bombs
together may develop into a “time bomb” if they
corrode and release poisons simultaneously. In deep
water the wreck may disturb the community living
on and probably around it. Mustard gas may occur
in lumps and crusts owing to a thickening substance
mixed with it in the bombs. It will kill or severely
disturb organisms close by or in contact with this mass.
Permanent storage of mustard gas in the deep ocean
2 The formal names of these agents of chemical warfare are: mustard gas, bis(2-chlorethyl)-sulfide; phosgene, carbonic dichloride; sarin,
methylphosphorofluoric acid, (1-methylethyl)ester; tabun, dimethylphosphoramidocyanidic acid, ethylester.
3 The formal names of these agents of chemical warfare are: Adamsite, diphenylaminochlorarsine; Clark I, diphenylarsinechloride; Clark II,
diphenylarsinecyanide; Lewisite, dichlor-(2-chlorvinyl)-arsine.
Hjalmar THIEL
a distance of 215 nautical miles from the Portuguese
coast [Working Group on Seabed Activities (SEBA),
1995], but any substance transported away with the
currents would arrive in international waters or those
of neighbouring states.
For more than 200 years defective, obsolete and
surplus munitions have been disposed of at sea. The
largest dumping actions occurred after World War II,
but most of the material remained in shallow waters
where mustard gas, particularly, caused health problems
to fishermen. Deep-water dumping of munitions is
reported in a few further cases: a total of 137 000
tonnes of chemical weapons were dumped at several
sites, the deepest at a depth of 4500 m and a distance
of 350 nautical miles south-west of Britain, others
at depths between 500 and 3000 m 55 nautical miles
north-west of Northern Ireland, 45–90 nautical miles
west of the Hebrides, and in and at the edge of
the Rockall Trough. One of these operations included
17 000 tonnes of bombs filled with tabun
2 , but other
munitions contained sarin, phosgene and mustard gas
(Advisory Committee on Pollution of the Sea, 1988;
Hencke, 1995). Britain terminated the dumping of
redundant munition and explosive stocks at the end of
1992. The last deep water dump site in use was located
some 400 nautical miles off southwestern Britain at
a depth of about 4500 m (Oslo Commission, 1992).
According to Tornes et al. (1989), probably 38 ships
with more than 150 000 tonnes of chemical munitions
were scuttled, some in the North Sea, some in the
Skagerrak at a depth of 600–700 m, and others in the
Norwegian Sea at great depth.
This list of dumpings of munitions in deep waters
could be extended. The examples are taken from
European sources but include only part of Europe, and
other countries may have dumped munitions similarly.
Much of the material may have ended up in shelf
regions, other parts of it on continental slopes or on
abyssal plains. Although dumping has been regulated
under the London Convention since 1975, military
forces have generally been exempted under “sovereign
immunity” provisions from these regulations. Not
much can be found on military dumping in the
open literature, since most information is confidential.
The Contracting Parties of the London Convention
in 1972 agreed to refrain from munition dumping at
sea and to use alternative methods, such as controlled
incineration in rotary kilns [Working Group on Seabed
Activities (SEBA), 1996].
For marine scientists, it is difficult to understand how
during the last decades, during which environmental
consciousness has been well developed and has continued to grow, any country could have applied for
exemption from environmental regulations. However,
all international conventions exempt activities related
to sovereign immunity, including military aspects,
unless Contracting Parties declare otherwise. The
London Convention and its 1996 Protocol impose
responsibilities on the Governments of member states
to ensure consistency with the object and purpose of
the convention.
Additionally, it seems that dumping sites have rarely
been investigated or monitored. Environmental impacts
have never been studied, but it is to be expected that
they may be both physical and chemical in nature.
Upon the arrival of a munition-loaded ship on the
seafloor, a large plume will be created, which will settle
down-current from the wreck. The finer particles may
drift away, but within a single event high concentrations
in the plume may be of restricted duration. Impacts
around the wreck may cover several square kilometres,
but recolonization should proceed over many years, as
was demonstrated by an experiment described below
on disturbance and recolonization related to deep-sea
mining (see p. 452) (Schriever et al., 1997; Borowski
and Thiel, 1998).
No observations have been made on the disintegration of munitions in the deep sea. Whereas some
agents of chemical warfare degrade completely in
seawater (e.g., phosgene and Clark II
3 ), others (such as
Clark I, Adamsite and Lewisite) may release poisonous
arsenical substances. They may become dissolved and
transported by currents, or they may concentrate in
current-quiet corners of the wrecks, while the bombs
together may develop into a “time bomb” if they
corrode and release poisons simultaneously. In deep
water the wreck may disturb the community living
on and probably around it. Mustard gas may occur
in lumps and crusts owing to a thickening substance
mixed with it in the bombs. It will kill or severely
disturb organisms close by or in contact with this mass.
Permanent storage of mustard gas in the deep ocean
2 The formal names of these agents of chemical warfare are: mustard gas, bis(2-chlorethyl)-sulfide; phosgene, carbonic dichloride; sarin,
methylphosphorofluoric acid, (1-methylethyl)ester; tabun, dimethylphosphoramidocyanidic acid, ethylester.
3 The formal names of these agents of chemical warfare are: Adamsite, diphenylaminochlorarsine; Clark I, diphenylarsinechloride; Clark II,
diphenylarsinecyanide; Lewisite, dichlor-(2-chlorvinyl)-arsine.