Areas that were formerly chosed and designated for dumping munitions at sea. The dataset was made based on information compiled by the HELCOM ad hoc Expert Group to Update and Review the Existing Information on Dumped Chemical Munitions in the Baltic Sea (HELCOM MUNI).

The areas displayed indicate areas formerly chosen and designated for dumping munitions at sea, e.g, by instructing the ships' captains to dump in sight of a landmark or moored buoy. In addition the dataset contains information about a suspected dumpsite in the Gdansk deep.

It should also be noted that dumping of munitions was also occasionally conducted outside of the known and designated dumping areas.

The use of these terms is not necessarily reflected in the descriptions contained in sea charts. While the area south of Little Belt was used as a dumping area, for example, in contemporary sea charts it is only described as ‘foul (explosives)’ and not as ‘explosives dumping ground'.

For more information, see the HELCOM MUNI report Chemical Munitions dumped in the Baltic Sea (HELCOM 2013).

The dataset was updated in June 2023 with the dataset provided by Gunnar Möller (Mine Warfare Data Center (C MWDC), 4th Naval Warfare Flottilla, Berga, Sweden) containing dumping areas. This dataset was created and approved for publication by EG Submerged. The data from German territorial waters and EEZ were withheld from the updated dataset.