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Military activities at sea include real operations, training operations and testing procedures such as submarine manoeuvres, target practice and aerial exercises. They also involve surveillance, monitoring and transport. The industry is considerable, both in terms of the costs incurred in maintaining it and in relation to the number of the people employed.

It was estimated that this activity generated 28.77 billion euros Gross Value Added (GVA) and employed an estimated 0.36 million people in 2017.

Pressures on the marine environment

One of the greatest challenges posed by maritime military activities is the amount of munitions that have accumulated in the sea from World War I, World War II and the Cold War. Military dumping continued throughout the 1970s but has decreased as a result of increased awareness of the negative impact it has on marine environment. Military activities specifically training exercises also introduce additional noise to the marine environment.  The pressures imposed on the marine environment by this activity include: 

  • Changes to hydrographical conditions can be caused locally due to construction of port facilities in coastal waters; large scale changes can be a consequence of large infrastructure projects;
  • Contamination can occur due to military dumping; maintenance works on ships may cause contamination by antifouling agents or other pollutants.
  • Underwater noise is emitted from port facilities during regular activities and along shipping lanes. Military activities specifically training exercises also introduce additional continuous and impulsive noise to the marine environment.
  • Non-indigenous species can be transferred by ships; alien species can attach themselves to the hull of the ship or can be transported by ballast waters.

References

  1. COGEA, CETMAR, & EASME, 2017. Study on the establishment of a framework for processing and analysing of maritime economic data in Europe: Final report MARE/2014/45.
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  2. EEA 2019, Marine Messages II. Navigating the course towards clean, healthy and productive seas through implementation of an ecosystem-based approach. European Environment Agency, EEA Report, 17/2019: 82 pp.
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  3. Korpinen, S., Klančnik, K., Peterlin, M., Nurmi, M., Laamanen, L., Zupančič, G., Popit, A., Murray, C., Harvey, T., Andersen, J.H.,Zenetos, A., Stein, U., Tunesi, L., Abhold, K., Piet, G., Kallenbach, E., Agnesi, S., Bolman, B., Vaughan, D., Reker, J. & Royo Gelabert,E., 2019, Multiple pressures and their combined effects in Europe’s seas. ETC/ICM Technical Report 4/2019: European Topic Centre on Inland, Coastal and Marine waters, 164 pp. (https://www.eionet.europa.eu/etcs/etc-icm/products/etc-icm-report-4-2019-multiple-pressures-and-their-combined-effects-in-europes-seas)
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