Two pieces of unexploded ordnance, believed to date back to the Second World War, were discovered in the Gulf of La Spezia near the Panigaglia natural gas regasification plant operated by energy infrastructure company Snam.
The discovery was reported by the firm Cesub srl, which was conducting underwater work in a maritime area between the territories of La Spezia and Porto Venere. In response, the local Port Authority immediately issued a navigation ban, establishing a 500-meter security radius around the site where the devices were found. The ordinance will remain in effect until the explosives are disposed of in a controlled detonation.
The Panigaglia facility is Italy’s only onshore LNG regasification terminal. Built in 1971, it receives methane tankers that offload natural gas, cooled to a liquid state at -60°C. The LNG is stored in two 50,000-cubic-meter tanks before being regasified and fed into a pipeline network serving Northern Italy. The terminal also loads LNG onto tanker trucks that shuttle to the mainland via ferry.
This incident has reignited existing safety concerns and public debate over the terminal. A long-standing local citizens’ committee, which highlights the plant’s proximity to residential areas, has renewed its calls for the facility’s decommissioning.
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