PEARL RIVER

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Dredger soaked bomb

The "Pearl River" sucked a 250-kg-bomb from the bottom off the coast of Zeebrugge on May 24, 2011 at 3.50 a.m. Because of bad weather the bomb could not be defused on open sea, and the ship had to enter the port. The bomb had been soaked up during maintenance work at sea. A three-man team from the bomb squad Dovo was sent, but could not get on board the ship due to the stormy weather. It was decided to enter the port of Zeebrugge and stop between the two breakwaters. The bomb in question turned out to be from Second World War, it was one meter long and 40 cm wide. The bomb weighed about 250 pounds. There was no detonator on the bomb. Before the dredging vessel was escorted to the port, a safety zone of half a nautical mile was established. The bomb was removed from the ship and taken to the naval base at Zeebrugge anf from there to the Dovo department in Poelkapelle.