Mercury fascination.

I think that most of us have been fascinated by mercury at sometime in our lives, probably in one of those lively chemistry lessons at school, when a slight spillage has resulted in a myriad of silver globules scattering over the bench and onto the floor. Hopefully today a little more care is taken with this highly toxic liquid metal, and its harmful affects are more widely appreciated.

It was only this week that I heard about the intriguing tale of German sub U-864. On the 8th February 1945, in the closing stages of World War II, the submarine was on a mission to Japan, when it was intercepted by a British submarine called HMS Venturer. U-864 became the only submarine to be sunk by another submarine while under water. Although the incident cost the lives of the 73 luckless men on board, it also had the affect of releasing an ecological time bomb. This consisted of 1,800 canisters of mercury, which equated to 65 tons, and was destined for the Japanese munitions industry.

The incident which occurred 64 years ago, 3.6 km west of the island of Fedje in the North Sea, is far from over, as the canisters slowly corrode and release increasing amounts into the North Sea. There have been many proposed schemes over the years to deal with the problem, including the one two years ago to entomb the submarine in an sarcophagus, which was a method previously employed on other underwater hazards. It was felt however that this was only postponing the problem, rather than effectively dealing with the situation.

Lets hope the saga will finally come to an end next year, when a proposed £100 million operation, that has finally been authorised by the Norwegian fisheries minister Helga Pedersen, finally comes to fruition. The wreck will be raised with a large container underneath it that will catch loose mercury, and will be brought ashore in a special vessel.