WWII shipwrecks a 'ticking time bomb' for Federated States of Micronesia

[GTX]

Sunken WWII relics a 'ticking time bomb' for Pacific island nation

The Federated States of Micronesia's biggest tourism asset has become one of its largest threats, with as much as 22 million litres of oil from World War II shipwrecks slowly leaking into the ocean.

www.abc.net.au

 

[SaparotRob]

Isn't there a sunken Liberty ship, stuffed to the gunnels with explosives, close by London?

 

[EwenS]

Isn't there a sunken Liberty ship, stuffed to the gunnels with explosives, close by London?

The SS Richard Montgomery with 1,400 tons still aboard. Safest route has been not to disturb them.

SS Richard Montgomery - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

There were some massive accidental explosions in WW2 from the mishandling of explosives. Port Chicago disaster, Fort Stikine at Bombay, Mount Hood at Manus and West Loch disaster at Pearl Harbor all without enemy intervention.

The USN has removed oil from the wreck of the Prinz Eugen at Kwajalein

US Navy completes oil removal from atomic bomb test ship

The US Navy's Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV) successfully removed 229,000 gallons of oil from the sunken World War

safety4sea.com

And some 1,600 tons were removed from the wreck of the Royal Oak at Scapa Flow about 20 years ago and the it continues to be monitored.

So recovery is possible. I suppose the first question is to whom do the wrecks belong today?

 

[SaparotRob]

The SS Richard Montgomery with 1,400 tons still aboard. Safest route has been not to disturb them.

SS Richard Montgomery - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

There were some massive accidental explosions in WW2 from the mishandling of explosives. Port Chicago disaster, Fort Stikine at Bombay, Mount Hood at Manus and West Loch disaster at Pearl Harbor all without enemy intervention.

The USN has removed oil from the wreck of the Prinz Eugen at Kwajalein

US Navy completes oil removal from atomic bomb test ship

The US Navy's Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV) successfully removed 229,000 gallons of oil from the sunken World War

safety4sea.com

And some 1,600 tons were removed from the wreck of the Royal Oak at Scapa Flow about 20 years ago and the it continues to be monitored.

So recovery is possible. I suppose the first question is to whom do the wrecks belong today?

That, to me, qualifies as a disaster in the works. Is there some U.N. agency that could be persuaded to assist?

 

[Gnomey]

Likely to be too unstable to do anything other than controlled explosion but that would risk damaging surrounding bits given the amount of explosives.

 

[Chris H]

Likely to be too unstable to do anything other than controlled explosion but that would risk damaging surrounding bits given the amount of explosives.

The "surrounding bits" would include the South Essex coast, including Southend on Sea, and a sizeable chunk of the north Kent coast! She's regularly inspected by the Royal Navy, and has a monitored exclusion zone covered by CCTV!
Just the sort of thing the Russians might take a pop at!

 

[yosimitesam]

The USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor leaks fuel oil to this day. I've seen several documentaries about Dec 7 that show "sheens" of oil still slowly leaking out and coming to the surface.
USS Arizona

 

[SaparotRob]

I watched it happen when I visited the memorial in '82 or '83.