Ocean pollution is well advanced. The causes are manifold: slowly weathering old ammunition loads are just one of several threatening factors! 1.6 million tons of conventional and 300,000 tons of chemical munitions are mostly hidden in the North and Baltic Seas. Locating, recovering and defusing ammunition is not only a regional but a global challenge.

Further pollution of the seas occurs through the input of nutrients from agriculture and industrial discharges. Microplastic pollution is a recognized and unresolved problem. In addition to reducing or avoiding further inputs, eliminating the previous pollution is a major challenge, because in addition to technical solutions, there are also political, regulatory and financial ways to be found.

We can learn a lot from marine systems if we better understand them and their behavior. Marine systems are complex and work efficiently. This bio-intelligence helps us to find solutions to the challenges of our complex world, in the area of digitization as well as for our economic, social and political system. But how can marine systems be analyzed and properly understood? Which technical solutions are necessary for this? What do we already know and how can we build on it? And what can be transferred from what has been learned and how?

The transport of people and goods by sea is considered to be an environmentally friendly alternative to other modes of transport (especially when compared to air and road transport). Nevertheless, shipping faces major challenges: on the one hand, shipping should become greener. By reducing emissions and using alternative fuels, operations should become more environmentally friendly. In addition, sustainable materials, techniques and the possibility of recycling should be used in the construction of ships. On the other hand, the possibilities of digitization should make shipping safer and cheaper. In shipping, there are also many recurring tasks that are used through automated mission management with watercraft in the development of suitable means of communication, measurement, control and regulation technology. In the field of high-performance sailing, systems for automatic navigation and control combined with intelligent sensors can be used.

Global climate change is causing sea levels to rise. This gives rise to two challenges: on the one hand, solutions are being sought to mitigate climate change and thus sea level rise (mitigation). However, since climate change and thus the rise in sea level can no longer be completely stopped, adaptation measures represent a further challenge (adaptation). How can it be possible to live and work on coasts and islands in the future despite rising sea levels?

Energy is one of our most important resources. We need energy to operate industries, to continue digitization, to satisfy our desire for mobility and not to freeze in winter. The fossil energy sources mainly used up to now are finite. Therefore, the challenge arises to develop sustainable energy sources. The sea already offers opportunities to produce regenerative energies such as wind, wave or tidal energy. Further solutions are being investigated and technically further developed. Research is also already being carried out on biogas from marine resources such as algae. In addition to the production, storage and transport of regenerative energies are considered a major challenge of the present and the future.

The sea has always been a supplier of food. Fish and seafood are an important part of the diet in all coastal societies. However, this fact has led to overfishing of the seas in many places. This raises the question of solutions for the sustainable use of the seas for food supply. What role can aquaculture play in this? In other parts of the world, algae, jellyfish and other marine resources are also used to feed the population. Here in Germany/ Europe, the use of these resources for nutrition is still in its infancy. What opportunities to feed a growing world population in a sustainable and balanced way does the sea offer?

Marine resources such as seaweed, algae, sponges or animal extracts from snails, mussels, jellyfish or fish offer a wide range of applications in the fields of cosmetics, pharmacy and the manufacture of materials for packaging, furniture or insulation. However, the properties of marine resources are far from being fully explored. There are still many opportunities in this field to find sustainable solutions to numerous everyday challenges.