HM Coastguard and the Royal Navy Explosives Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team have been on scene at Maenporth Beach, the UK, investigating reports of a parachute mine 800 meters offshore, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency informed.
In the morning hours of November 29, HM Coastguard Operations Centre at Falmouth received a 999 call from a local diver who discovered the suspected mine after diving off the coast. The photographs were immediately sent to the EOD team based in Plymouth.
Falmouth Coastguard Rescue Team and the Falmouth RNLI all-weather lifeboat were sent to the location immediately. The lifeboat is keeping vessels clear of the area as a precautionary measure. HM Coastguard is also been issuing safety broadcasts informing vessels of the exclusion zone.
“We won’t know exactly what we are dealing with until the EOD team make their way to the device. Until that time, we have taken measures to clear the area and make sure that vessels and the public are kept safe. We are appealing to people to keep at a safe distance until it has been declared safe by the EOD team,” Mark Rodaway OBE, Duty Commander for HM Coastguard , said.
“We have no further information at this time but will hopefully provide an update after the EOD team have fully assessed the situation,” he added.