BARI – The Navy are dealing with a World War Two sea mine accidentally discovered by a fishing trawler off the coast of Puglia.

 The moored mine was caught in the nets of the "Aquila Reale" fishing boat during a fishing trip. 

 The Bari Prefecture requested the urgent assistance of the Gruppo Operativo Subacquei (Operational Divers’ Group) to remove it from the deck of the Aquila Reale.  On Wednesday, it was carefully picked up and towed to a secure area, where it will be exploded as soon as weather conditions allow. 

 This is far from the only case of leftover explosives being discovered in Italy.  In Bolzano, the eighth operation to find, identify and remove explosive devices in Lake Varna began on Monday. 

 1060 bombs have already been handed over to the Army bomb squad, to add to the total of 11,421 explosive items recovered since the operations at the lake began in 2017, according to the Navy.  The explosives were thrown into the lake by the Austro-Hungarian army in 1918.

 At Lake Bracciano, Lazio, the Operational Divers’ Group have identified a mortar bomb and a 75mm armour-piercing projectile, which will also be delivered to the Army bomb squad to defuse. 

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