WWII naval mine recovered by fishermen in Dutch North Sea

Photo: Grietje Cornelia official Facebook page

A naval mine dating back to World War II was fished out of the waters of the North Sea by the crew of a Dutch trawler on Thursday, April 23.

The crew of the 24-metre Grietje Cornelia, owned by Den Helder fisherman Frank Oosterman, had found the 1,000-kilogram explosive device in one of the vessel’s nets among the catch of fish.

The mine, which was confirmed to be of German origin, is believed to have been lying undisturbed for decades on the seabed off the Dutch coast when it was inadvertently pulled out by Grietje Cornelia‘s net.

The trawler’s master then requested for assistance from the Royal Netherlands Navy, which duly sent an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team aboard the  dive support vessel HNLMS Argus to take the mine off the trawler so that it can be detonated safely at sea.

The mine was subsequently detonated by the navy EOD team a safe distance offshore using 10 kilograms of explosives.


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