THE discovery of a bomb in Princess Royal Harbour is considered to have justified the Albany Port Authority’s six-year Supreme Court fight with the Australian Government’s Defence Department.

The WWII bomb was discovered in 14-metre deep water adjacent the woodchip berth by divers last Wednesday, during the first phase of a clean-up of the seabed.

The “live” British artillery shell was removed by Navy clearance divers on Friday.

Port CEO Brad Williamson said he had expected some munitions to turn up during the port’s clean-up project in front of the berths, but was very surprised it happened so quickly.

“We didn’t expect to find any munitions yet, especially before we started to get into the soft sediment,” he said.

“I’m pleased our arguments (in court) proved correct.”

The port won a court battle on July 22 last year, after the Defence Department accepted it was responsible for the removal of any WWII munitions found in Princess Royal Harbour.

Ten days into a four-week hearing in the Supreme Court, the Commonwealth agreed to pay $5.25 million for the removal of the ordnance and an additional $1 million to cover the port’s legal costs.

The 30-centimetre long bomb is the first found in the harbour since it was last searched in 2000 during dredging for the woodchip berth.

This led to the port seeking compensation from the government because of extra costs involved in removing it.

Mr Williamson dived with the team to confirm for himself the bomb was there.

“It’s quite safe in the seabed,” he said.

“It’s been there for 60 years, but now we’ve found it we want it removed.”

The port immediately organised Navy experts to remove the bomb.