Engineers have taken down all three masts of the SS Richard Montgomery, a US cargo ship that sank off Sheerness in 1944 carrying an estimated 1,400 tonnes of munitions, without setting off an explosion, the government has said.
The masts had stood above the water for decades, and there were fears they could fall onto the ship's holds and detonate the cargo. Maritime minister Keir Mather told the Commons on Monday that the project finished early and under its estimated £9.5m cost, and that removing the weight had reduced the risk to the wreck.
The masts have gone to the Historic Dockyard Chatham. A shipping exclusion zone and a no-fly zone remain in place, and the site will continue to be monitored, the Guardian reports.
Source: The Guardian