Scholarly record

MARINE GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATIONS TO ASSESS THE SAFETY OF THE ROMANIAN MARITIME SPACE. CASE STUDY: MIDIA HARBOR OFFSHORE

Radu Dimitriu

Abstract

Redefining the maritime space security framework is actually a top priority for any European maritime country, and Romania is no exception. Several research projects, all in connection with the safety of the maritime space and the submerged cultural heritage have been addressed by the Romanian researchers during the last years. Among them, the project entitled ?Implementation of a geophysical investigation and monitoring tool of the Romanian maritime space security ? MAR-S? explicitly aimed at demonstrating the effectiveness of a complex geophysical tool proposed for the advanced investigation of the submarine domain and the usefulness of the dedicated GIS-database, comprising all the relevant information for the topic, namely created. A maritime testing area, on whose surface the efficiency of the complex, geophysical tool designed to investigate the sea bottom was to be demonstrated, was established off Midia harbor. The selection of the testing area was based on information regarding the existence on the seabed of many snags which hang and tear the fishing nets, the certain presence of several shipwrecks, the existence on the sea bottom of remnants originating from the minefields deployed during WWII and the presence of several magnetic targets previously detected. Last but not least, the re-evaluation of Midia Maritime Terminal (MMT) safety was considered. Offshore activities covered an area of around 100 sq. km, on which surface have been found 117 new magnetic targets and 310 acoustic targets, 67 of them being in excellent correlation with the magnetic ones. Based on the integrated interpretation of all available data, the certain presence of four shipwrecks is confirmed, the possible presence of another, dismembered shipwreck, covered by shallow sediments, is assumed, while the existence of other two shipwrecks on previously documented locations is denied. The study also confirms the extension and heading of a former main minefield, previously well-known by naval authorities, but also highlights the existence of at least two others possible, totally unknown before, former minefields. Scuba diver inspections, also carried out on two locations where previously the magnetic and acoustic mappings led to the discovery of unknown shipwrecks, corroborated with information extracted from the new created GIS-database, led to the identification of potential candidates for the new discovered, unknown shipwrecks

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/sgem2019/1.1/s05.108

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