Michael V said:

captain_spalding said:

roughbarked said:

Definitely unexploded.

Reports say it’s a Chinese Type 59 artillery shell (130mm). This is used by the Type 59 130mm towed field gun (a licensed Chinese copy of the Soviet M-46).

PNG has no Chinese artillery. In fact, it has no artillery at all.

So, who’s supplying Chinese shells, who are they supplying them to, and why are they being mislaid at a wharf in P/NG?

Hmmmmm.

A good question.

TBH, it’s not much of a question.

P/NG is a major crossroads for illicit arms and ammunition shipments around the Pacific/SE Asia region.

Long coastlines, small and ill-equipped enforcement agencies, and endemic corruption make it easy to ‘do business’ through P/NG.

A good number of cargo charter flights carrying such tings, including Russian-made (and often Russian-operated) Antonov 224 transports pass through P/NG. Even the now-destroyed An-225 made at least one such flight.

Other shipments arrive by sea, are unload, then re-loaded for onwards transport.

It’s all done very quietly, and this will bring unwanted attention.

But, it’ll probably continue.