While the risk is low, the danger is still there as Royal Canadian Navy divers remove shells from the wrecks of four iron-ore carriers near Bell Island.
The vessels were sunk by a German U-Boat in two separate strikes in 1942.
The live shells were on board the vessels as part of defensive measures put on the boats carrying iron-ore from the mines on Bell Island to steel mills in Nova Scotia. Dozens of lives were lost.
Lieutenant Zach Johnson says they’ve cleared one of the vessels and are now working on the Rose Castle. He says they are highly trained professionals, but there is still a risk.
He says the shells have been on the bottom for 75 years, but they are corroded and in some cases degrading.
The shells recovered from the bottom are being carried to a location in Conception Bay North where they are safely detonated.