SEATTLE —The Coast Guard Captain of the Port has established a temporary 1,500-yard safety zone around an unexploded ordnance drifting south and currently in the vicinity of the Brownsville Marina in Bremerton, Wash.

The public can expect the zone to last until the unexploded ordnance is rendered safe and removed from the area.

The ordnance was originally located by a Washington State Department of Natural Resources crew, who reported the incident.

A Coast Guard Station Seattle boat crew aboard a 45-foot Response Boat Medium is monitoring the 1,500-yard water safety zone, which has been established around the ordnance as it continues to drift south near Bremerton.

Around 5 p.m., two divers approached the device and started securing it with a rope. Crews are now working on a safe disposal plan.

Other assets on scene include:

• Naval Base Bangor Explosives Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11
• Paulsbo Marine Unit
• Bainbridge Marine Unit
• Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team 91101 Seattle
• Coast Guard Cutter Swordfish en route to scene

A 5,000-foot temporary flight restriction zone has also been established in the area around the ordnance.

The safety zones were established to ensure the safety of people, vessels and aircraft transiting the area and to prevent underwater activities near the unexploded ordnance.

It’s still early, but first reports suggest the mine is a WW2 Naval Mine.  Mines were extensively deployed during the Second World War.  The Washington Coast and Seattle in particular were a strategic targets during the war.  We haven’t had official response from our inquiry, but the mine appears to be a “Moored Mine”  This type of mine would be tethered to a weight just below the surface of the water.  When a passing vessel would pass next to it, the mine would explode.

The Graphic below shows how such devices were used.

The mine could have been floating around for years before the mine drifted to where it was discovered today.  It is entirely possible that the mine could be a remnant of the war jarred loose from it’s mooring during the Japanese earthquake and tsunami that sent debris to our shores over the past few winters.  The more terrifying thought is that it was out there all the way through fishing season.

We will keep you up to date with development in this story.  For now people are urged to stay out of the area.