Moves to remove oil from 80-year-old sunken shipwreck begins

Finland on Monday started an operation to remove oil from the coastal defense ship Ilmarinen, which sank 80 years ago, said the Ministry of the Environment in a press release.

Naval multipurpose vessel, Louhi, will conduct detailed investigations and assessments of the wreck until August 18.

Following a legal amendment in early 2023, the responsibility for monitoring and gathering information on hazardous shipwrecks has been assigned to the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), which now coordinates the research carried out at Ilmarinen.

The Ilmarinen wreck contains light fuel oil and poses significant risks to the marine environment.

On 13 September 1941, coastal defence ship Ilmarinen sank in the northern Baltic Sea, about 40 kilometres south of the island of Utö, after hitting a mine.

The wreck is located at a depth of about 80 metres. Its tanks contain an estimated 100,000 litres of light fuel oil.

“Removing the oil from Ilmarinen will protect the Baltic Sea by reducing the risk of oil spills from the wreck. At the same time, we will strengthen the expertise of the authorities and other actors in cleaning up shipwrecks. There are almost thirty shipwrecks in Finland’s territorial waters, which are a risk to the environment,” said Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Kai Mykkänen.

The SYKE collaborated with the Finnish Border Guard and the Finnish Heritage Agency to conduct the first preliminary investigations on the Ilmarinen wreck in August 2023.

According to the investigation, the Ilmarinen wreck is well preserved, but particularly its surface shows significant changes caused by corrosion. Oil droplets were found to rise regularly from the wreck.

According to project manager Tommi Kontto of the SYKE, the risk assessment of the sunken vessel was updated on the basis of last year’s investigations.

It is estimated that the wreck poses a significant risk to marine life and the environment in the event of an oil leak.

The Archipelago National Park is located near the wreck. The winds and currents prevailing in the area are likely to carry a potential oil spill towards the national park.

Earlier in February, the SYKE invited bids for the clean-up of Ilmarinen’s wreckage with the intention of emptying the wreck’s oil tanks during 2024.

However, no suitable contractor was found through the tendering process.

Working together with other authorities, the Ministry of the Environment supports the removal of oil from the shipwreck as work carried out by the authorities.

The goal is to extract the oil from the sunken vessel in 2025.