The legacy of a Nazi submarine continues to “ haunt ” the waters of Europe .
In February 1945 , just months before the Nazis were defeated , a German Navy U - gravy holder was torpedoed down by the British Royal Navy in the waters off the Norse glide , killing all 73 of its gang . In a last - ditch attempt to supply their allies inJapan , the submarine was en routewith a very authoritative delivery:65 to 70 tonnes of quicksilver .
Some 70 year on , U-864stilllies in the North Sea near the metropolis of Bergen , even amid go forward fears of highly toxic liquid mercury seeping out into the surrounding environment .
The wreckage of U-864 was found by the Norwegian Navy in March 2003 . Not long after , the authorities come across papers that suggested the hypothesis of mercury on board . Mercury is of course come about and can be found throughout the environment , especially in seafood . Nevertheless , fears quickly spread that the U - boat ’s cargo could be make its way into the smother waters ( base on North Sea fish ) and potentially work its direction up along the food chain to humans .
However , fixing the problem is no small exploit . The wreck lies on a steeply inclined seabed made of unstable deposit . Any plan to move the wreck , therefore , could chance a landslide , which would be a double disaster if there are still live warheads onboard .
" We have to assume that there are still torpedos on card – at least a couple , " Ane Eide Kjeras , a spokeswoman for the Norwegian Coastal Administration , toldDer Spiegelin 2006 . " There is a far higher endangerment of one explode during a salvage mental process . "
The Norwegian governmenthas recently proposed another controversial solution . The commonwealth budget in 2019 plans to set apart 30 million Norwegian Krone ( $ 1.5 million ) to essentially seal off up the crash under a deep “ sarcophagus ” . Although that plan is not yet official , they say it could be completed as ahead of time as the summertime of 2020 .
