Experts have been surveying Sheppey’s sunken bomb ship after a bid to remove its masts hit a snag in the summer.

The SS Richard Montgomery sank off the coast of Sheerness in August 1944 with 1,400 tons of explosives aboard.

Although the vessel has been sitting in the water for almost 80 years, there is still considered to be a risk that the explosives could detonate, potentially causing a devastating tidal wave.

Responsibility for the management of the wreck rests with the Department for Transport (DfT), which has been regularly monitoring the ship’s condition.

In recent years, signs of deterioration have been seen in its hull, which it is thought could increase the danger.

Two years ago it was decided that the ship’s three masts – which project above the water line – would be removed, as it is thought that their weight is placing an additional strain on the cargo hold.

The government awarded a contract to safely remove them using jack-up rigs placed on the seabed, providing access to each mast via cranes.

The work was already delayed once after ordnance was found lying on the seabed. These were removed last summer. But in June preparatory work, which included a detailed survey of the wider area around the wreck, identified another 18 “objects” on the seabed, which caused the DfT to abandon the use of rigs for safety reasons.

This month the DfT confirmed it is “updating plans to remove the ship’s masts as soon as safely as possible”.

The government body explained that expert contractors were commissioned to carry out further survey work on the wreck as an essential prerequisite to the next steps in the mast-cutting project.

These took place earlier this month and in November, and will continue in the spring.

A DfT spokesman said: “Our priority will always be to ensure the safety of the public and reduce any risk posed by the SS Richard Montgomery.

“We commissioned experts to carry out vital surveying work to the wreckage.

“Based on their findings, we are now reviewing and updating our plans to remove the ship’s masts as soon as safely as possible.”

There is an exclusion zone around the immediate wreck site, marked by a ring of buoys, but increasingly yachts, jet-ski users and even paddle-boarders have been seen ignoring the exclusion zone and venturing dangerously close.

The DfT is awaiting the results of the survey work before determining the next steps and will come forward with an indicative timetable for the completion of the mast-cutting work once the implications of the findings are fully understood.

Sittingbourne and Sheppey MP Gordon Henderson said: “It was always the case that the masts needed to be removed to prevent them collapsing onto the wreck, and it was also accepted the work should be undertaken as soon as practicable.

“That situation has not changed.

“Of course, there has been a delay in starting the work because of previously unknown objects on the seabed necessitating a different approach to what is a delicate operation,” he added.