3 Jun 2013

NZ Navy vessels off to find unexploded WWII bombs

5:32 am on 3 June 2013

The New Zealand Navy vessel HMNZS Wellington is due to leave on Wednesday for Solomon Islands and Kiribati to help locate and dispose of explosive remnants left over from the Second World War.

It will join the HMNZ Manawanui on a multinational explosive ordnance disposal operation involving personnel from New Zealand, Australia, France, Kiribati, Solomon Islands and the United States.

The commanding officer of the Navy Operational Dive team, Lieutenant Commander Trevor Leslie, says the teams will be using a variety of specialist equipment to locate the remnants, including metal detectors, underwater sonar equipment and a sonar detection dog.