2 May 2012 (BNS)

Divers of the Estonian Navy on Tuesday exploded three depth charges off the island of Naissaar near Tallinn.

The BB-1 large depth charges, originally found by hobby divers, presumably date from World War II. A charge of this type weighs 165 kilograms and contains 135 kilograms of explosive substance.

"We exploded the charges in the same place to the west of Naissaar where they were found," the head of the Navy's diving group, Lt. Sven Pipar, was quoted by spokespeople as saying. He said hobby divers had informed the Navy about explosive devices found under the water also earlier and the Navy held information events for hobby divers from time to time to teach them how to identify different devices and what to do when one has spotted a device on the seabed.

According to different sources more than 80,000 naval mines were placed into the Baltic Sea during the world wars. As a result of the low salinity of sea water and constant temperatures on the sea bottom most naval mines found in  Estonian waters are very well preserved.
Many of the mines found are in a good condition and pose a serious danger.