The wreckage of the old Russian cruiser “Murmansk” has been stranded outside to coast of Finnmark in northern Norway for 15 years. Recent investigation has revealed that there is radioactive substances inside the ship.
Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten printed the story about radioactive “Murmansk” last Friday, and it has led to a massive national media attention in Norway on the environmental hazard it seems to represent.
Since 1994 the ship has been stranded outside the coast of northern Norway, after the strap broke when the ship was being towed to India for destruction. In all those years all Norwegian authorities has said that the ship is no danger to the surrounding environment. Therefore it has been left there for slowly disintegration.
One year ago a Norwegian waste management company tested the substance of some equipment from the ship, and it turned out to be radioactive. Now both environmental activists, local politicians and all others affected by the ships presence on the coast of Finnmark, demands that the minister of fisheries and coastal affaires, Helga Pedersen, takes action to remove the wreckage. However, nothing is yet decided about what will happen with the remains of the cruiser “Murmansk”.