Engineers have removed the masts from the SS Richard Montgomery, a sunken US cargo ship in the Thames estuary, without triggering an explosion. The vessel sank in 1944 carrying approximately 1,400 tonnes of munitions.
The work marks what UK ministers described as progress in managing a decades-long hazard. The wreck has been under constant guard since sinking, due to the risk that its cargo of unexploded ordnance could detonate. Officials have previously warned that such an explosion could devastate a Kent coastal town and generate a tidal wave affecting London.
The mast removal operation proceeded without detonating the munitions. No other details about the scope, cost, timeline or next steps in managing the wreck have been disclosed in the available information.