Increased shipping activities have made the already environmentally sensitive Baltic Sea and its coastal areas at risk for pollution and the unintended introduction of invasive species. The BONUS+ BalticWay project attempts to identify the regions that are associated with increased risk to other sea areas and to propose ways to reduce risk of being polluted in the Baltic Sea by placing activities in other areas that may be less affected.
A solution to this inverse problem is sought by means of statistical analysis of a large pool of solutions to an associated direct problem of current-driven transport of adverse impact. A generic example of an adverse substance is an oil spill; however, the results can be used even more adequately for adverse impacts that are distributed over (or carried by) water masses (such as toxic substances or nutrients). It is the intention that using the results of modelling of current-driven transport in combination with statistical analysis, optimum routes for shipping that limits the effect of pollution, can be proposed.