The summer period has just begun and, as happens every year, the Italian prefectures have increased the number of requests for emergency intervention at Diving Operations Group (GOS) of Diving and Raiders Command "Teseo Tesei" (Comsubin) following the increasingly frequent reports of the discovery of artifacts attributable to explosive devices.
Dozens of airplane bombs and all sorts of naval and terrestrial projectiles, of the most disparate calibers, have been removed from the bottom of the Italian seas and lakes and have been neutralized according to the consolidated techniques used by divers to preserve the marine ecosystem.
Although the country is still involved in the COVID-19 emergency, the indispensable work of the Navy to restore the safety conditions of our country's waters has never ceased. At this particular moment, it was possible to maintain the operational capabilities of Comsubin, thanks to specific anti-contagion procedures that were introduced by the Command on the basis of the legislative devices that were gradually issued by the Government.
In recent years there has been an impressive increase in occasional reclamation interventions that have led to the removal of over 2019 war remnants from our coasts during 72.000, while in the first 6 months of 2020 13.668 explosive devices have already been neutralized.
The task of conducting the reclamation activities of these dangerous artifacts, found in maritime contexts, has been assigned to the Comsubin Underwater Operating Group, since the dawn of its foundation, and was recently confirmed with the Decree of the Ministry of Defense of 28 February 2017.
For this reason, divers face a hard training path that leads them to obtain, in Italy and abroad, numerous qualifications that allow them to intervene, as well as on war remnants, also on newly conceived explosive artifacts, or on improvised ones. , which are found in water, in the hull of naval units or in port infrastructures.
The remediation works carried out in the last week, some of which are still in progress, have made it possible to restore water safety conditions:
- Syracuse, where 39 dangerous explosive devices from the Second World War were identified and destroyed;
- of the island of Porco, located in the archipelago of La Maddalena (SS), where GOS men continued to remove and neutralize the remnants of war present in that area at a depth of 36 meters. During this mission, in which Comsubin's commander, Rear Admiral Massimiliano Rossi, also took part, about 30 kg of explosives were removed from the seabed, contained in the 1.170 bombs recovered during the last three research campaigns;
- of Lake Varna (BZ), where a joint reclamation operation is underway with the bomb squads of the Army which, up to now, has allowed to eliminate 33.000 Austrian rifles from the First World War;
- on the wreck of the Aqua, located in the Cinque Terre National Park at about 40 meters deep, where an operation is underway to remove the bullets found by the Varignano operators in the ship's reserves, in order to make it usable again, in safety, to the many sports divers who dive there.
These interventions have been carried out or are currently carried out by the operators of the Ready-to-Use Department and by those of the seven SDAI Nuclei (Demining Defense Antimezzi Insidious) located in La Spezia, Taranto, Ancona, Naples, Augusta, Cagliari and La Maddalena, all employed of the Comsubin Underwater Operating Group, with the contribution of the local Maritime Authorities who ensure logistical support and the fundamental safety cordon for the reclamation operations.
It is advisable to remind those who come across objects whose shape or size can be traced back to that of an explosive device, that these artifacts can be very dangerous and, therefore, must not be touched or tampered with in any way. Instead, it is necessary to report the discovery immediately to the local Harbor Master's Office or to the nearest Carabinieri station, so as to allow the intervention of the Comsubin divers who will restore the safety conditions of our waters.
