Baltic Sea

WATERWAYS project supports sustainable use of maritime routes

What does the sustainable and resilient use of the Baltic Sea’s maritime routes look like, and how can it be promoted under prevailing conditions? These are the questions addressed by WATERWAYS, a Strategic Research Council project launched in December 2024. The project aims to balance risks and opportunities while developing sustainable future pathways through collaboration between a multidisciplinary research team and key stakeholders. Experts in information technology, marine engineering, environmental science, and maritime law from Finland’s leading universities and research institutions contribute to the project. The goal is to provide new perspectives, knowledge, and tools that support the sustainable use of maritime routes, benefiting both society and the scientific community.

 

Maritime routes amid change

The Baltic Sea is a vital transport corridor for Finland, supporting national well-being, security of supply, and sustainable development goals. However, intense shipping traffic is also a key contributor to the deterioration of the sea’s ecological state.

The global use of marine areas is increasing for transport, energy production, food production, tourism, and recreation. At the same time, awareness of the vulnerability of marine ecosystems is growing, leading to demands for greater protection and restoration of marine areas. This creates competition for maritime space among various industries and environmental conservation needs.

In the Baltic Sea, several current trends and challenges stand out. Geopolitical tensions impact the safety of maritime routes, and sanctions against Russia have altered traffic patterns, giving rise to a “shadow fleet” of high-risk vessels. Climate change is destabilizing the Baltic Sea’s ecosystems, necessitating effective conservation and restoration measures. Simultaneously, changing weather conditions challenge the operation and planning of maritime transport.

The green transition aimed at mitigating climate change introduces new fuels and offshore wind power, but also new types of emissions and risks that require careful evaluation and management. As oil transport declines, attention shifts to the effects and safety of alternative fuel transportation.

Balancing the risks and opportunities associated with maritime routes in the Baltic Sea within an ever-evolving operational environment is a demanding task. It is therefore timely to consider what sustainable and resilient use and development of maritime routes entails under these conditions, what it requires, and how it can be supported.

 

WATERWAYS: Maritime routes as a source of well-being, security, and safety

The WATERWAYS project, funded by the Strategic Research Council and launched in December 2024, focuses on promoting the sustainable use and development of the Baltic Sea’s maritime routes. Its goal is to enhance the positive contributions of these routes to well-being and security while reducing environmental pressures. By examining ecological, social, technological, and legal dimensions, the project will provide new tools and recommendations to support strategic planning and decision-making.

The project idea emerged in autumn 2023 when Professors Mashrura Musharraf (Aalto University), Sakari Kuikka (University of Helsinki), Osiris Valdez Banda (Aalto University), and Research Director Annukka Lehikoinen of Merikotka gathered to explore collaborative opportunities under the new research program theme Water for Welfare, Security and Peace (WaWe). The team soon expanded to include Dr. Jukka-Pekka Jalkanen, an expert in emission modeling at the Finnish Meteorological Institute, and Professor Henrik Ringbom, an expert in maritime law from Åbo Akademi University.

The research ideas were refined in dialogue with ministries and agencies, deepening the team’s understanding of the challenges and knowledge needs related to the Baltic Sea maritime transport sector. WATERWAYS aims to find solutions for managing the risks and environmental impacts of maritime activities while strengthening their positive societal impacts.

The project will achieve its goals through the following approaches:

  1. Enhanced monitoring: Improving the capacity to track and analyze both legal and illegal activities in marine areas.
  2. Environmental pressure assessment: Developing the ability to evaluate the impacts of shipping and recreational boating.
  3. Facilitating coexistence: Designing solutions to align and balance various maritime activities.
  4. Advancing preparedness: Strengthening readiness to prevent and manage marine spills and environmental damage caused by them.

 

Stakeholder interaction: co-creating sustainable solutions

Kotka Maritime Research Association (Merikotka ry) plays a central role in coordinating societal interaction within the WATERWAYS project. Strategic Research Council projects emphasize stakeholder engagement and the active role of researchers in societal dialogue.

Key stakeholders are encouraged to participate in the project in various roles, including as information providers, co-developers, evaluators, test users, and commentators. Interaction methods range from regular meetings and email communication to in-depth research-based interviews, surveys, workshops, and events. These activities bring together the project consortium, stakeholders, and external experts to build shared understanding and solutions.

The primary goals of interaction are twofold. First, to ensure that the knowledge produced by the project is relevant, timely, and easily usable for stakeholders. Second, to create opportunities for co-production of knowledge, joint interpretation of research findings, and the design of sustainable future solutions.

WATERWAYS project preparations are progressing. The project’s website will be launched, and an advisory expert group comprising stakeholder representatives will be established in early 2025. A kick-off seminar in spring 2025 will bring together researchers and stakeholders to discuss and build collaboration that informs both the research and interaction activities of the project.

Updates on WATERWAYS news and outcomes will be actively shared on Merikotka’s LinkedIn channel thus now is a great time to join its growing follower base!

 

Text: Annukka Lehikoinen

Research article: a decision analysis model to compare biofouling management strategies

Researchers of the Merikotka-driven COMPLETE and COMPLETE PLUS projects published a scientific article where they present a multi-criteria decision analysis model to compare alternative biofouling management strategies in the Baltic Sea. The article is a joint effort of the KMRC researchers from the groups of the University of Helsinki, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Science, and the Kotka Maritime Research Association, in collaboration with Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE), Chalmers University of Technology, and University of Klaipeda.

Biofouling management helps to prevent the spread of potentially harmful non-native species but is important also in terms of ships’ fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. The main biofouling management methods in use are regular cleaning of the underwater parts of vessels, and diverse biocidal or non-biocidal hull coatings. The ecological and environmental risks associated with different solutions and their combinations should be acknowledged when selecting case-specifically sustainable management strategies. In addition, the special characteristics of the Baltic Sea, such as the partial ice coverage in winter, restrict the applicability of some solutions in the area.

The researchers developed a model that enables case-specific comparison of the biofouling control strategies in relation to the risk of new non-indigenous species introductions in different parts of the Baltic Sea, the eco-toxicological risk due to biocidal hull coatings, and the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions that increase along the growing friction caused by the organisms attaching the ship’s hull. In addition, for each analyzed scenario, the model estimates the monetary costs for the shipping company, arising from the fuel consumption and the evaluated control options.

In the article, the researchers demonstrate how, with the careful consideration of the hull fouling management strategy, both money and environment can be saved. Biocidal-free coating combined with regular in-water cleaning, using a device to collect the detached organic material, provides a sustainable alternative. However, the optimal biocidal-free coating type and in-water cleaning interval should be evaluated case-specifically.  In some cases, biocidal coating with less regular in-water cleaning appears to be a justifiable solution but even then, the copper concentration and release rate from the coating should be adjusted to the low-salinity conditions of the Baltic Sea.

The article is published in the journal Science of the total environment and is freely available. It is part of the KMRC-researcher Emilia Luoma’s PhD study she conducts as part of the research group of the University of Helsinki. In her thesis Luoma applies participatory system modeling methods to examine environmental and sustainability issues related to marine traffic in the Baltic Sea.

 

Written by: Emilia Luoma and Annukka Lehikoinen

A recent scientific article explores biofouling management in shipping

Researchers in the COMPLETE project have published an article that explores the management question related to the biofouling of ships’ underwater structures through qualitative decision analysis. The article recently came out in Marine Pollution Bulletin.

Biofouling management is important to prevent the spread of harmful non-indigenous species, but also from the viewpoint of the fuel economy and CO2 emissions of ships. The attachment and growth of organisms can be prevented by regular cleaning of the underwater parts of vessels and by applying various antifouling or foul-release coatings. However, there are risks associated with the methods and their combinations, that should be considered when making choices.

In their recent article, the researchers clarify the multifaceted and cross-disciplinary nature of the biofouling management decisions. To support readers’ thinking, the problem is visualized as a causal conceptual map (qualitative influence diagram). The article explains how ship- and route-specific factors, as well as the physico-chemical conditions in the Baltic Sea, affect the case-specifically optimal choices. The control options are viewed in a multi-objective manner, from the perspectives of shipping companies’ fuel and biofouling management costs, CO2 emissions and the risks to the Baltic Sea ecosystem.

The article is part of KMRC-researcher Emilia Luoma’s PhD study in the research group of the University of Helsinki. In her thesis, Luoma applies participatory system modeling methods to examine environmental and sustainability issues related to marine traffic in the Baltic Sea.

Read the original article

 

Written by: Annukka Lehikoinen