Under a cliff in Vlora Bay, one of the most beautiful spots on the Albanian Riviera, a diver emerges from the water with an artillery shell, which he carefully places on the pebble beach.
Under the crystal clear waters of the Adriatic, shells and WWII shells are rusting on the seabed, polluting the water and posing a deadly threat to life.
Aboard the dive support vessel Pluton, a group of about 10 French and Albanian demining divers are on a joint mission to find and remove the munitions – but no one knows how many are left.
In less than two hours, the divers collected an impressive 85 pieces of ammunition believed to have been deliberately dumped into the sea by crews of Italian troops over seven decades ago.
“It is a joint work with the Albanian Navy, which knows the site better than we do,” Captain Aymeric Barazer de Lannurien, commander of the French contingent, told AFP.
Specialists recovered a total of 310 devices during the joint Franco-Albanian effort last year.
Barazer de Lannurien said most of the shells found were artillery shells stuck between rocks on the seabed.
– ‘One or two grenades’ –
“We found one or two shells that were on the bottom between the rocks and easily accessible to the population (which) could be dangerous for swimmers,” he recalled last year’s mission.
This time the team said it recovered mortars and shells ranging in caliber from 20mm to 155mm.
While there are no official estimates of the amounts of submerged munitions, experts estimate that at least 20 WWII wrecks are located near Albania’s Adriatic coast.
The teams are adept at handling the potentially deadly waste, but an ambulance is on hand just in case.
Divers pass the explosive devices between them before carefully placing them on the beach, reminders of past conflicts.
Then Albanian troops collect the grenades and destroy them at a military base in the capital, Tirana.
In addition to the ever-present threat of detonation, teams face choppy seas and scorching heat.
Albanian skipper Ilirian Kristo laughed at the danger before disappearing beneath the waves.
“Bomb disposal diving is a job, but above all it’s a great passion,” said the captain.
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