MISSION: WATER 48 HEADLINE OCEAN & COASTAL WATERS Sailing the Baltic Sea Measuring Environmental Effects of Shipping For several thousand years, the Baltic Sea has been an important resource for fishing and trade. The Vikings (800-1100 AC) established trade routes across the Baltic and travelled with their longships via rivers to the Caspian and Black Seas. Many of the Viking trade routes and locations were eventually taken over by the Hanseatic League, an association of independent cities that dominated trade and shipping in Northern Europe during the Middle Ages. Today other types of ships dominate the Baltic Sea - from ferries and cruise ships, to oil tankers, car carriers, container and other cargo ships. Up to 15% of the world’s cargo traffic is handled in the Baltic Sea, making it one of the busiest areas for ship traffic, in the world. Due to its narrow straights and shallow waters, the Baltic Sea is difficult to navigate. In some of the major ship lanes, like in the Bornholm straight between the Danish Island of Bornholm and the Swedish main land, there is one large ship passing every 10 minutes, on average. 1 The ever expanding shipping and tourism industries have led to growing environmental pressure on the waterway. This pressure manifests as increased air, water, and noise pollution, presenting a clear threat to the future of the Baltic. So much that the European Union (EU) launched a joint research and development program called BONUS in 2010, focused exclusively on developing a sustainable economic and ecological plan for commerce. BONUS is a collaboration of representatives from all EU members bordering this priceless resource and “…funds projects of high excellence and relevance to produce knowledge, scientific evidence and [innovative] solutions needed by policymakers…” 2 One such initiative is the SHEBA (Sustainable Shipping and Environment in the Baltic Sea region) project, which launched in April of 2015 and will continue until 2018. In the SHEBA project, environmental effects of shipping in the Baltic Sea region are in sharp focus. The project is supported by a wide range of stakeholders - from atmospheric and oceanographic scientists to economists and experts on shipping, environmental policies and law, who will be consulted about data collection and results of the project. Per BONUS, the project aims to “…provide a holistic assessment of [the] impacts of operational shipping on the environment…through [analysis] of the drivers for shipping and their impacts on ship traffic volumes and emission factors.” 3 1 Madjidian et al. 2013 2 bonusportal.org 3 sheba-project.eu Baltic Vessels of the Past Mankind has rich maritime history on the Baltic Sea. Kingdoms, merchant leagues, and empires were forged and lost on its waves. Different eras of history led to different naval designs, with some of the most famous designs firmly imprinted into our culture today. Long and slender Viking longships are some of the most easily recognizable ships on record. Taking cues from the Baltic’s past, Hrimfare af Ranrike’s name was inspired by Nordic mythology. It translates loosely to frost traveler of the sea, with “Hrim” meaning frost, “Fare” meaning travel and “Ranrike” signifying the kingdom of goddess of the sea (her name was Ran). BONUS Members Per BONUS, Eight EU (European Union) member states have supported the program with €100M in combined funding over the past 6 years. The Russian government also joins in the program via bilateral agreements. 2 Russia Poland Latvia Finland Denmark Sweden Lithuania Germany Estonia DR. ANDERS TENGBERG