As explained on the Configurations page, any MSP Challenge edition is configurable to fit your own requirements. The best way to do this is by editing the basic configuration file of a particular edition.

The Baltic Sea edition has a basic configuration with the following main parameters:

Era Timeline

Era Start End
Era 1 2018 2026
Era 2 2026 2034
Era 3 2034 2042
Era 4 2042 2050


Country Overview

  • Nine countries with each two or three objectives:
    • Yellow (Germany)
    • Blue (Denmark)
    • Purple (Sweden)
    • Green (Finland)
    • Red (Russia)
    • Pink (Latvia)
    • Estonia
    • Lithuania
    • Poland

Other settings

  • Dataset as stipulated on the Data sources page. See the Baltic Sea edition table.
  • Three background simulations:
    • Ecopath-with-Ecosim ecosystem simulation, and predefined ecosystem pressures (noise, artificial substrate, surface disturbance, bottom disturbance, fishing efforts and protection from fishing activities) generated from different human activities.
    • Shipping simulation, monthly ship traffic entering, leaving or within the Baltic Sea region.
    • Energy simulation, existing offshore renewable energy areas, electricity cables and landing stations (landfall points) in the different countries. These simulate the curent energy flow of the existing infrastructure.
  • Restrictions and errors:
    • Errors when planning different physically-obstructing human activities on the same area, e.g. a wind farm on a shipping lane, or vice versa.
    • Warnings when planning human activities with defined ecosystem pressures in an MPA or Natura2000 site, or vice versa.

Data Sources

Layer name Main category Sub category Source Last update
Countries Management Governance adapted from http://www.naturalearthdata.com Jan/17
Populated places Management Governance http://www.naturalearthdata.com (for whole region) Oct/16
EEZ Management Governance http://www.marineregions.org/downloads.php#iceser (for whole region) Oct/16
Territorial Waters Management Governance http://www.marineregions.org/downloads.php#iceser (for whole region) Oct/16
Bathymetry Management Environmental conditions Helcom Dec/16
Sediment Type Management Environmental conditions Helcom Oct/17
water temperature (at Sea bottom) Management Environmental conditions Helcom May/18
Salinity Management Environmental conditions Helcom (raster) Jun/18
Eutrophication Status Management Environmental conditions Helcom, (period of 2007-2011) Oct/17
Ice Cover (Winter, summer) Management Environmental conditions Helcom, (period of 2005-2009) Oct/17
wind resource density Management Environmental conditions Ri.Se Scenarios Oct/18
wave resource density Management Environmental conditions Ri.Se Scenarios Oct/18
Military Areas Management Restricted areas Open street maps Jun/16
Elevation (background) (background) Helcom Aug/17
Bathing sites Activities Recreation Helcom Dec/16
Recreational fishing Activities Recreation Helcom Jun/16
Finfish Mariculture Activities Aquaculture Helcom Oct/17
Shellfish Mariculture Activities Aquaculture Helcom Sep/17
Renewable Energy Sources - Operational Activities Energy Helcom Feb/17
Potential Wind Farms (RI.SE) Activities Energy RI.SE Oct/18
Oil platforms Activities Energy Helcom Oct/17
Refinning Stations Activities Energy Helcom (refinaries) 2016
Pipelines Activities Energy Helcom Updated in May 2018 (data from 2015)
Electricity Cables (from wind farms) Activities Energy Helcom Dec/18
Transformers Activities Energy Derived from the land grid Dec/18
Transmission lines (land grid) Activities Energy Helcom Dec/18
Other Cables Activities Energy Helcom Dec/18
Potencial cables (RI.SE) Activities Energy Ri.SE Oct/18
Dredging sites areas Activities Shipping Helcom Helcom date: 2018-01-15. updated in the game on 19/11/2018.
Depositing sites areas Activities Shipping Helcom, removed areas under 0.250km2 Helcom update a year ago, updated for the game on 19/11/2018
Sand and Gravel extraction Activities Shipping Helcom Helcom date: 2018-01-15.added in the game on 19/11/2018.
Ports Activities Shipping Helcom Jan/17
NO shipping zones Activities Shipping Adapted from shapefiles received from Baltic Lines partner with draft plans of partners Dec/18
IMO routes Activities Shipping Helcom, updated on 28/06/2018 Dec/18
National shipping lanes Activities Shipping Adapted from shapefiles received from Baltic Lines partner with draft plans of partners Dec/18
Fairways Activities Shipping Adapted from shapefiles received from Baltic Lines partner with draft plans of partners Dec/18
Passenger shipping density (static layer) Activities Shipping Helcom (data from 2016) Jan/2020
Tanker shipping density (static layer) Activities Shipping Helcom (data from 2016) Jan/2020
Container shipping density (static layer) Activities Shipping Helcom (data from 2016) Jan/2020
Cargo shipping density (static layer) Activities Shipping Helcom (data from 2016) Jan/2020
Shipping intensity (dynamic layer)) Activities Shipping In game data comes from SEL (Shipping model) NA
Shipping intensity (dynamic layer) Activities Shipping activity Shipping simulation (SEL) - all ship types together NA (simulated)
Ferry shipping intensity (dynamic layer) Activities Shipping activity Shipping simulation (SEL) - ferry ship traffic only NA (simulated)
Passenger shipping intensity (dynamic layer) Activities Shipping activity Shipping simulation (SEL) - passenger ship traffic only NA (simulated)
Tanker shipping intensity (dynamic layer) Activities Shipping activity Shipping simulation (SEL) - tanker ship traffic only NA (simulated)
Maintenance shipping intensity (dynamic layer) Activities Shipping activity Shipping simulation (SEL) - maintenance ship traffic only NA (simulated)
Cargo shipping intensity Activities Shipping activity Shipping simulation (SEL) - cargo ship traffic only NA (simulated)
Shipping risk Activities Shipping activity Shipping simulation (SEL) - all ship types together NA (simulated)
Marine Protected Areas Ecology Protected Areas Helcom Dec/17
Natura 2000 sites Ecology Protected Areas https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/natura-9 Jan/19 (data from Mar/2019)
Unesco Sites Ecology Protected Areas Helcom Dec/17
Baltic Sea Fisheries closure Ecology Protected Areas Helcom Oct/17
Cod Fisheries closure Ecology Protected Areas Helcom Oct/17
Breeding areas for birds Ecology Sensitive areas Helcom (raster) Oct/17
Wintering areas for birds Ecology Sensitive areas Helcom (raster) Oct/17
Cod Spawning areas Ecology Sensitive areas Helcom (raster) Oct/17
Bottom disturbance Ecology Pressure Pressure calculation (MEL) NA
Artificial substrate Ecology Pressure Pressure calculation (MEL) NA
Noise Ecology Pressure Pressure calculation (MEL) NA
Surface disturbance Ecology Pressure Pressure calculation (MEL) NA
Protection against fishing Ecology Pressure Pressure calculation (MEL) NA
Fish Ecology Several species, according to regional relevance EwE NA
Mammals Ecology Several species, according to regional relevance EwE NA
Macrobenthos Ecology Several species, according to regional relevance EwE NA
This page was last edited on 12 March 2020, at 12:33. Content is available under GPLv3 unless otherwise noted.