Marine Spatial Planning and Shipwrecks

Book chapter, 2016

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016. All rights are reserved. In association to the shipping industry there is a broad infrastructure that is connected with multiple activities, e.g., transportation, building and recycling. This infrastructure services the industry, for example ports, and its connected transport network, fairways and canals. The infrastructure activities also entail various environmental issues, such as land use, air emissions, noise, erosion and increased water turbidity. From an environmental perspective, ships have different impacts during the various phases of their lifetimes. Building ships is a highly energy demanding process, and various environmental issues are connected to ship yards. Moreover, when ships are scrapped, the workers typically work under very crude conditions, and often no environmental concern is exercised. To facilitate the effective use of ocean near-shore areas and avoid conflicts among stakeholders, marine spatial planning (MSP) can be applied. Marine spatial planning is a process that views a system and its potential usages from both spatial and temporal perspectives and can facilitate the implementation of ecosystem-based management plans, avoiding conflicts and creating opportunities between various actors in the area. This concept is now being introduced in many countries. Shipwrecks represent a hidden problem that must be addressed. Several thousand shipwrecks litter the ocean floor, containing massive amounts of oil and other toxic chemicals.