Baltic divers remove explosive devices in Narva Bay

Baltic clearance divers have concluded an operation to remove old explosive devices in Narva Bay.
The joint Baltic operation saw dives to ten explosive devices six of which were removed and detonated. The devices in question were World War II contact mines and torpedoes, "Aktuaalne kaamera" reported.
Divers knew of a total of 30 objects in this part of the Narva Bay.
"The rest turned out to be fragments of various explosive devices the moving of which was not necessary. But we managed to successfully remove everything we set out to remove this time," said Sr. Lt. Priit Kaasikmäe, head of the Navy divers.
The location also holds a wreck of a German torpedo boat the fuel of which had started to leak. The Police and Border Guard Board and private contractor Tuukritööde OÜ removed marine pollution and sealed the leak last week.
Lithuanian divers visited the wreck, while the Latvians and Estonians remained on the surface.
"There are a lot of mines around the wreck that are either in direct contact with it or lie a few meters away. The divers' task was to map out the mines and move them away from the boat as safely as possible to allow a decision to be made in terms of what to do with the wreck. The boat is upside down – to make it as safe as possible to pump more fuel out of the wreck should it prove necessary," Kaasikmäe explained.
The wreck of the torpedo boat lies at a depth of 36 meters. The depth of the entire diving area was between 30 and 40 meters. The deepest divers are allowed to go in the Baltic countries is 55 meters.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski