Over 11 Tons of WWII Munitions Located in Lagoon

Tuvalu Explosives experts have successfully located more than 11 tons of WWII-era munitions in Tuvalu, a remote Polynesian island in the Pacific Ocean midway between Hawaii and Australia. The massive cache of UXO was scattered across a 12-kilometer lagoon in Nanumea, a community of about 500 inhabitants that previously served as a U.S. airbase during the war. The newly discovered hazards appear to consist principally of US munitions associated with the historic military base.

Operating at the request of the Tuvalu government, an Australian Defence Force (ADF) clearance diving team partnered with EOD personnel from the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) to execute a technical reconnaissance mission. Working from the Royal Australian Navy minehunter HMAS Diamantina and the Pacific Support Vessel ADV Reliant, the dive teams covered more than 100 kilometers of seabed at depths reaching 25 meters.

Utilizing handheld sonar equipment, the clearance divers identified nearly fifty 500-pound bombs, dozens of caches containing .50-caliber small-arms ammunition, and several 100-pound bombs, which marked the first munitions of that specific type discovered in the lagoon.

The reconnaissance mission falls under Operation Render Safe, an ongoing initiative that has been active for approximately 20 years. The Tuvalu Police Force patrol vessel HMTSS Te Mataili III also assisted in the operation. Sgt. Foma Kalala, the vessel's executive officer and a native of Nanumea, noted that the lack of information regarding the lagoon's UXO footprint has long caused concern among the local residents. He emphasized to the community that this specific phase of the operation was focused purely on discovering and mapping the hazards, rather than removing them.

Subject to Tuvaluan government approval, the ADF is expected to return during a separate future clearance phase to safely destroy the identified munitions. Planners indicate that ordnance considered safe to move will be relocated to a designated destruction site, while unstable items will be neutralized in place. Reflecting on the enduring hazard, Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Penitala Teo stated that while the war moved on, these hidden reminders continue to pose a significant risk to the local population, the marine ecosystem, and the future development of the region.