Se the demolition on the Danish Defence TV Channel (in Danish)

Since the ships are a part of DANEX 2010 exercise, the live ordnance disposal was turned into an opportunity to show how destructive the historical ordnance can still be. 

At the same time the coordination between units, precision and effectiveness of countermining was demonstrated to media embarked on Royal Danish Navy ships.

The British WWII mines have been found during mine countermeasures (MCM) operations conducted within DANEX 2010 scenario. Though it is entirely fictitious, the ships are using live bottom sounding techniques, and therefore are able to find real objects on the sea bed.
 
One of DANEX task group is combined of Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group One (SNMCMG1) under command of a Polish officer – Cdr Krzysztof Jan Rybak. Four other MCM units from Poland, Germany and Denmark have been attached to the Group for the purpose of this exercise.

HDMS MAKRELEN, acting as part of this task group was the one to pinpoint the position of those dangerous WWII leftovers. Since all three mines lie in relative close proximity, the decision about public demolition has been taken.

All three objects have been successfully countermined, leaving more space for safe ferrying and fishing in the area.

Since the end of the First and Second World War the seas are full of mines, bombs, and torpedoes that have not exploded yet. The NATO countries decided that a special group of MCM vessels would be formed in order to find and countermine as many of those dangerous objects as possible.

Even though it’s been over sixty years since they have been laid, the explosives they contain are still dangerous resulting in related accidents throughout last few years. SNMCMG1 is conducting its operations not only during multinational exercises, but also within dedicated mine-hunting and clearing operations throughout the year.