In interviews, Ms. Van Landuyt and other researchers said they singled out the wreck because it lies clear of shipping lanes, and divers told them there were munitions onboard.
In 2019, the team set to work, analyzing surrounding sediment and steel hull samples and finding heavy metals, chemicals, arsenic and explosive compounds. According to the study, the marine environment and chemistry “on and around” the ship “is still influenced by the wreck” even after 80 years.
But the findings do not indicate an impending environmental disaster. The study showed that microbes in areas around the ship had been degrading oil that had leaked from the vessel, decades after it sank. That could be helpful, because it would be costly and impractical to remove the wreck, said Erin Field, an assistant professor of biology at East Carolina University.
“The bright side of this is if these microbes are able to degrade the oil, that is good for the environment, because they will remove it as a contaminant,” said Dr. Field, who reviewed the study. “We don’t know how fast, but if they are capable, it would be a benefit.”
“We have a lot of unanswered questions on the impact of wrecks on the environment nearby,” she added.
More than 8,000 shipwrecks from the world wars litter the seas. A 2021 study by scientists in Britain raised concerns about oil pollution from these wrecks, among other environmental impacts.
That study examined the marine environment surrounding the H.M.S. Royal Oak, which was torpedoed by a German submarine and sank off the Orkney Islands in 1939. It leaked oil in the 1960s and 1990s, and though some oil was removed from its tanks, an estimated 697 metric tons, or about 768 U.S. tons, remained, the study said. Tests confirmed there were “minimal impacts” from leaking oil on the surrounding environment.
