Today at 11.00 the divers of the Operating Group Underwater (GOS) of the Command Submarine and Incursori (COMSUBIN) of the Navy have concluded the underwater operations destroying the danger explosive device found on the beach of Fano last 13 March.
The Navy divers had already intervened jointly with the Army bomb-makers, at the disposal of the prefecture of Pesaro and Urbino, to move and secure the war residual - a bomb from the UK MK6 by 500 pounds - equipped with a special device 'trigger to delay of armament 144 hours that it was a serious danger to the nearby hospital of Fano. After a long, meticulous and exhausting nocturnal activity the bomb had been removed from the site of discovery and transported in open sea by the personnel of the Navy at a safe distance from land installations and maritime communication routes, ensuring the regular recovery of the social activities of the small town.
"Intervening on an explosive device of such a large size and triggered with a timed device is very particular, the adrenaline is felt and the attention we give to every minimum action is always maximum"Said Corvette Captain Therry Trevisan, head of the blasting team COMSUBIN,"however, we did not have time to dispel the emotions of that night because, after the repositioning of the bomb in the security area, we returned to Grado to continue an important operation of reclamation of explosive devices found in an Austrian wreck of the WWI. At the end of the 144 hours, estimated maximum armament time of the device found in Fano, we returned this morning to the Marches to complete the work and destroy the bomb that, in the past few days, had made many people lose sleep. The underwater operations conducted this morning were carried out with extreme marine weather conditions, which the divers of the Operating Group Underwater are able to face thanks to the specific training".
The activity just ended confirms the high level of professionalism that our armed forces are able to make available to the community in perfect synergy between forces and with a view to effective inter-ministerial and inter-agency collaboration. This intervention represents one of the many activities that the Navy divisions conduct to safeguard public safety even in inland waters, as reiterated by the Decree of the Ministry of Defense of 28 February 2017, carrying out high-risk diving operations aimed at restoring safety conditions of bathing and surfing.
Last year the Navy divers collected and destroyed a total of 22.000 explosive remnants of war residuals, while from 1 January 2018 have already neutralized 1.360 from the Italian seas, rivers and lakes, not counting the bullets of caliber inferior to the 12,7 mm they are removed and destroyed.
With a history of 169 years behind, divers offer national excellence in the field of underwater activities being able to conduct work dives up to 1.500 meters of depth and in any operational scenario, as part of their school tasks (rescue the crews of submarines in difficulty and the neutralization of explosive devices found in maritime contexts) and in favor of the community. Due to these peculiarities the divers of the other armed forces and armed bodies of the State can be formed exclusively from the School Group of Comsubin which, through dedicated training courses, enables them to conduct shallow water dives according to their respective skills.
