Out of Sight, Out of Mine?
Introducing Ocean Remediation of Underwater Munitions
As Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine continues to send naval drones and debris falling into the Black Sea, and the war in Gaza increases naval activity in the Mediterranean, a quieter but older threat lies beneath Europe’s waters.
Millions of tonnes of wartime munitions remain on the seabed across all European sea basins. As they corrode, they pose growing environmental and safety risks, including the release of harmful substances. Some have also started to act as artificial reefs, with marine organisms settling on their surfaces. With corrosion advancing and maritime activities intensifying, the risks are mounting. Addressing this challenge requires urgent, coordinated action and innovation.
On Wednesday 17 December from 17:00 – 17:45, REVOLVE and JPI Oceans are bringing together leading industry experts and research initiatives to advance safe, sustainable solutions for the detection and remediation of underwater munitions.
Members of the media are invited to join online for this exclusive event to learn how European cooperation and cutting-edge technologies are helping turn a hidden environmental hazard into an opportunity for scientific and policy leadership.
Speakers:
Peter Nieuwveld, Solution Owner for UXO Risk Mitigation at Fugro
- Peter Nieuwveld is the Solution Owner UXO at Fugro. He has worked in various roles at Fugro since 2011, and has spent the last 5 years working in UXO risk mitigation with a particular focus on technology & innovation.
- Since 2021 he has had a personal interest in dumped marine munitions and the threat they increasingly pose to ocean health and to society in general. He has recently worked to promote Fugro’s involvement in research and development towards scalable and sustainable solutions to the dumped marine munitions challenge.
Aaron Beck, Senior Biogeochemist at Geomar
- Aaron Beck is a Senior Scientist at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel in Germany. Over the past 10 years, his research topics and projects have focused on sea-dumped conventional munitions, especially the global scope of the problem, the release of toxic compounds, and developing new monitoring technologies.
- His work highlights the knowledge gaps regarding the fate and effects of these pollutants in marine ecosystems.
Olga Lucia Lopera Tellez, Research Manager at Belgian Royal Military Academy
- Olga Lopera Tellez received the Eng. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Los Andes, Colombia, in 2001, the M.Sc. degree in applied sciences from the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium, in 2004, and the Ph.D. degree in engineering sciences from the Université Catholique de Louvain and from the Royal Military Academy, Belgium, in 2008.
- In 2007, she became a Research Engineer with the Department of Communication, Information, Systems, and Sensors of the RMA, and in 2021 she became Senior Researcher with the Remote Sensing unit. Her main scientific interests include target detection and target identification using acoustic data for mine countermeasures applications, UXO detection, and seabed monitoring. Since 2024, Dr Lopera is research manager at RMA.
Moderated by:
Hollie Fisher, Media Relations Manager at REVOLVE
- Hollie has a Master’s degree in Strategic Public Relations and Communications Management and a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Journalism from the University of Stirling.
- Before working at REVOLVE, she worked for an environmental organisation as part of the Scottish Government in the role of Public Relations and Digital Communications Officer specialising in circular economy projects.
