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Portsmouth cross-Channel ferries stopped as WW2 bomb found | Portsmouth cross-Channel ferries stopped as WW2 bomb found |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Cross-Channel ferries to and from Portsmouth had to be suspended earlier following the discovery of a World War Two German bomb. | |
The device was found at about 05:00 GMT by a dredging barge on the seabed in Portsmouth Harbour. | The device was found at about 05:00 GMT by a dredging barge on the seabed in Portsmouth Harbour. |
An 500m exclusion zone was set up, which prevented the ferries from entering and leaving the ferry port. | |
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard remains shut to visitors for the rest of the day. | |
A Royal Navy spokesman said the bomb had now been "safely moved further into the harbour" which mean the port could temporarily reopen. | |
He added: "The plan is to tow the device out of the harbour later today when tidal conditions permit." | |
Brittany Ferries earlier had three ships waiting to come into Portsmouth - one from Spain and two from France. Its Normandie ferry, which had arrived from Caen, had to be held for almost five hours. | |
It said 950 passengers had been on board the three ships. | |
David Minton, a passenger stranded on the Normandie, said at the time: "It's getting rather boring, we've had to sit here just twiddling our thumbs, but there's nothing we can do." | |
Nigel Wonnacott of Brittany Ferries said: "We'd like to apologise to all our passengers, it's an unexpected and irritating delay which is outside out control - we just have to extend our apologies and ask our passengers to remain patient." | |
Condor Ferries' Commodore Clipper, which serves the Channel Islands and had 94 passengers onboard, was also held outside the harbour for several hours. | |
Dredging work | Dredging work |
The exclusion zone around the device has meant some Naval base employees have had to be moved to other buildings at the dockyard. | |
It is the third device to be found in the harbour during dredging works since September. | It is the third device to be found in the harbour during dredging works since September. |
Dredging work is being carried out in the harbour to to deepen and widen a four-mile (7km) channel to allow the the navy's new 65,000-tonne aircraft carriers to dock. | Dredging work is being carried out in the harbour to to deepen and widen a four-mile (7km) channel to allow the the navy's new 65,000-tonne aircraft carriers to dock. |
The HMS Queen Elizabeth is due to be handed over to the MoD in 2016 ahead of being put into service in 2020. | The HMS Queen Elizabeth is due to be handed over to the MoD in 2016 ahead of being put into service in 2020. |