Between August 1941 and May 1945 seventy eight convoys sailed from the United Kingdom, Iceland and North America to the Soviet Union as part of the vast Allied effort to supply the USSR during the Second World War. In total over 1400 merchant ships delivered almost four million tons of goods via this Arctic route. However, casualties were high, with at least 104 merchant vessels lost to enemy action and extreme weather alongside 16 allied warships. In turn 34 German warships and submarines were sunk while hunting the convoys, as well as large numbers of aircraft.

Eighty years later the environmental risk posed by the remains of these vessels that contain large quantities of oil, chemicals, ammunition and other hazardous materials are now the cause of international concern. As these wrecks degrade, they will inevitably release their cargoes and fuel stores into the environment with an uncertain impact on the marine ecosystem. The risks are compounded by the fact many of the wrecks are scattered across a vast and remote area of ocean, within the environmentally sensitive Arctic Circle where pollution could cause serious harm, and where spills may not be rapidly identified. These sites are hard to monitor using traditional maritime patrols, but new technology may provide a solution.

This project was funded by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation and carried out by the Maritime Archaeology Sea Trust (MAST) to address this issue. Researchers trawled the archives to identify the locations of all military and merchant vessels lost in the area of the Arctic convoys during both the First and Second World Wars. Each vessel was assessed for pollution risk and compiled into a GIS database. Using the data collected MAST analysts used a range of satellite-based remote sensing techniques to examine all the wreck sites identified for evidence of pollution. This approach has already been successfully applied in other regions to identify oil seeping from decaying wrecks, and to spot catastrophic releases triggered by human interference such as salvage, fishing or military activity. The data was also assessed for leaks which cannot be correlated with known wreck sites or subsea infrastructure, and which may indicate the location of previously unknown or missing wrecks. As Arctic waters once again face geopolitical tensions in the Twenty-First Century, it is hoped this technology will provide a means to manage the toxic legacy of Twentieth-Century conflicts.