Work is scheduled to commence in September on dismantling the masts of the SS Richard Montgomery, a sunken shipwreck in the Thames Estuary laden with 1,400 tonnes of wartime explosives.
The vessel, which sank in 1944 approximately 1.5 miles off the Kent coast, poses a significant risk due to its volatile cargo.
According to the Government, experts believe reducing the height of the three masts to below sea level will alleviate pressure on the wreck's structure, thereby mitigating the danger of heavy objects impacting the munitions below.
Once removed, the masts will be transported to Chatham’s Historic Dockyard in Kent, where they are destined for preservation and public display.
Speaking near the wreck site, maritime minister Keir Mather said: “They’ve been part of the maritime history of places like Sheerness for decades.
“And we want to make sure that that continues to happen for decades to come.”
After preservation work, teams working on the masts will “be able to make a decision about where they are best placed, so that local communities can access them”, Mr Mather said.
Robin Rickard, who is providing strategic explosive ordnance advice to the Department for Transport (DfT), said work to remove the masts would require a jackup barge – a floating platform on long legs “firmly anchored into the seabed, so it won’t move”.
He added: “We’re going to put a jackup barge alongside it, both the stern section and the forward section, and then we’re going to use a diamond wire saw to chop the masts and recover them.”
SS Richard Montgomery – or ‘Monty’ – was carrying “safe-to-transport munitions” during its doomed voyage from the USA to Great Britain, Mr Rickard said.
“So specifically, they weren’t armed or fused during transport,” he added.
“So, I’m not surprised that they’ve been sat in wet storage for 82 years and nothing’s happened, which is good news.
“The reason we’re doing something about it now is that the masts are in a window where they’re likely to fail and the Department for Transport is taking every step reasonable to reduce the hazard of a falling mast onto an explosive cargo.”
Paul Barnard, the deputy chief executive at Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust, said: “It serves today really as a permanent reminder of the Second World War, the role that not just the Navy allied forces played but also those support-class vessels.”
He said the masts, which have towered above the water’s surface, “are a really really important part of the ship and they’re an important part of the story”.
To keep the ship’s masts in the UK, teams from the DfT have had to speak with their counterparts in Washington.
US ambassador to the UK Warren Stephens last month wrote to Kevin McKenna, the Labour MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, telling him he backed efforts to display the masts.
“I am pleased to share that our Department of Transportation welcomes efforts to honour the memory and keep the masts in the UK for public display where they may continue to be appreciated by your constituents,” he wrote.
Mr Mather said: “It shows the depths of the partnership between our two nations, both in the Second World War to the present day.”
An “exclusion zone will remain in place for as long as it needs to” around the vessel but the “wreck itself is stable”, the minister added.
Nolan Conway, project manager at Resolve Marine, which has been contracted to reduce the masts’ height, said: “Drawing on our extensive experience in complex marine operations, we are committed to executing this work safely, efficiently and in close collaboration with all stakeholders.
“This historic project represents a significant milestone in the ongoing management of one of the United Kingdom’s most closely monitored wreck sites.”
