Two Australian divers about to board a 737 flight to Sydney, rowed with airport staff at Vanuatu after 15 live anti-aircraft shells were confiscated from their luggage.

The divers had recovered the WW2 munitions while wreck diving near Santo island and were planning to take them home. Officials in charge of security for the Sydney-bound flight were horrified when they discovered the shells in two bags about to be loaded into the cargo hold.

The divers reacted angrily to having their souvenirs confiscated, and argued that they had made the munitions safe by removing the projectiles from the tip. The detonators were still inside the casings.

Flight officials were unconvinced, but let them go: minus the artillery shells. The incident only recently came to light after a report into the effectiveness of security scanning equipment at the airport.

21-year-old Samantha Marsden was arrested and charged in January, after joking with officials at Miami airport that she had three bombs in her bag. But then, being in possession of anti-aircraft artillery at an airport would appear to be less of an offence than joking about it.

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