TeeJF
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As regular visitors to the forum will know, from time to time we have thrown in a report on an underwater urbex. We've covered variously the wrecks in Bikini Atoll, some Japanese navy ships caught by the Americans in Palawan, a roll on roll off ferry in Cyprus and a Bristol Blenheim and a tug boat in Malta.
This report is on a former East German navy mine sweeper - yes, apparently they didn't just goose step up and down on the wrong side of that ugly wall in Berlin! Malta has long been a popular destination for scuba divers but due to the steepness of the continental shelf off shore many of the wrecks that sank there, especially in World War II, are way too deep for divers - typically wrecks sit in 100 + metres which is almost double the safe limit for compressed air diving and approaching the limit for technical divers using rebreathers. We have been lucky enough to dive HMS Stubborn, a WW2 submarine sunk intact in 85 metres, and the Bristol Blenheim previously mentioned, but otherwise there is really little else worthy of a look because HMS Maori, a WW2 destroyer sunk just inside Grand Harbour, is a skeletal mess now, and the "Beetle" - an ex-Gallipolli Great War infantry landing craft - are the only other "real wreck" alternatives.
The Med has suffered a lot from over fishing and pollution - when I first dived in Malta the sea was teeming with fish life, crustaceans and invertebrates, particularly sea urchins and small, highly coloured wrasse, however the last time I dived there after a break of some 17 years or more I was appalled at how lifeless it had become - Cyprus was much the same with little in the way of fish life apart from on the wrecks. As a result of the paucity of genuine ship wrecks in shallower waters, the Maltese authorities have sunk several small wrecks close in shore to add attraction to what has now sadly become rather barren waters.
I can find little in the way of information on this particular ship however, and to be perfectly honest even its east German provenance is in some doubt however one must rely on the word of the locals and it is they who told us it was east German in origin. It is one of two near identical ships sunk in 2007 and we were lucky enough to dive her only a couple of weeks after she had gone down. It is a long swim out and rather difficult to find however well worth the effort. On our first visit we found little life had appeared as yet however a second visit about twelve months later showed the beginnings of colonisation by a variety of creatures and many more small fish, the precursors to an ever swelling eco system.
The process of sinking these ships for divers is in itself of interest. The ship is sanitised first by the removal of all pollutants such as oil and fuel. In Britain and America the same kind of thing happens however with typical British respect for Elfen safety we have a propensity for cutting huge access holes throughout the superstructure leaving a wreck which has more in common with a pre-fab kit garage than a ship. Not so the Malts who just seem to clean it and then pull the plug. I am sure you will realise that a Maltese diver's wreck is therefore much more interesting!
First sight of the wreck appearing through the gloom almost 100 feet down.
TJ descends into the stern of the wreck where the engines used to be.
Looking through the engine room to the forward hold. Note the absence of any colonising life forms.
Part of the rudder mechanism. The cam seen here was turned by a steel cable attached to a large electric motor controlled by electronics linked to the bridge.
'er indoors
We are both using rebreathers on this dive, a type of technical diving system which recirculates the
gas mix we are breathing, prolonging our time at depth and dramatically reducing our decompression time.
Although the rebo is amazing it is also rather cumbersome, especially because you have to carry a bail out scuba
cylinder on your hip in case of emergency. It makes swimming through tight corridors rather interesting
Emerging behind the bridge superstructure.
It was really amusing to find the Tasmanian Devil from Warner Bros' Looney Toons cartoons painted beneath the mast
You can clearly see the amount of extra tech kit TJ is wearing on this shot.
Entering the bridge lower deck area now and it will be a tight squeeze.
An urbexer's self portrait of sorts except it's still 'er indoors, not me.
Easy does it is the order of the day to avoid snagging hoses etc.
What's she looking at
Ahhh... part of the fire fighting system.
Much of the appeal of this wreck was the sheer amount of opportunity to twiddle things! I expect it's all corroded solid by now though.
Fiddle fiddle fiddle
The bridge as seen from the bow decks.
Both of the clear view screens survived the sinking intact, not so the adjacent plain
windows which both shattered with the force of the water surge as she went under.
Both of the plain glass windows had shattered into crystalline shards reminiscent of the old Duralex drinking glasses we had for school dinners in the 70s...
You can see the bridge compass (middle bottom) with it's weather proof glass cover still intact on this shot.
Wrecks rapidly become artificial reefs for sub-aquatic wildlife. Already after just a couple of weeks a few small fish have begun to appear on the upper superstructure.
Ascending the radar mast. The plume of bubbles to the right are coming from TJ who is venting her buoyancy control system.
The rebreather does not make any exhaust bubbles unlike scuba so it is rare to see a bubble plume except during ascent.
And then quite suddenly we realised we were no longer alone Believe it or not we noticed these scuba divers first by the sound of their bubbles Their dive duration would be roughly half
ours and yet they would still incur upwards of 40 minutes deco penalty requiring them to wait at about 10 metres to avoid the bends. We on the other hand enjoyed over an hour at 100 + feet and swam straight back with no penalty what so ever.
Ahhh those rebos
Time to leave the ship now, gently ascending all the way. The release of
dissolved gas from our tissues is safely accelerated by the constantly changing
gas mix we are breathing, all controlled automatically by the rebo.
And that's yer lot I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for looking...
This report is on a former East German navy mine sweeper - yes, apparently they didn't just goose step up and down on the wrong side of that ugly wall in Berlin! Malta has long been a popular destination for scuba divers but due to the steepness of the continental shelf off shore many of the wrecks that sank there, especially in World War II, are way too deep for divers - typically wrecks sit in 100 + metres which is almost double the safe limit for compressed air diving and approaching the limit for technical divers using rebreathers. We have been lucky enough to dive HMS Stubborn, a WW2 submarine sunk intact in 85 metres, and the Bristol Blenheim previously mentioned, but otherwise there is really little else worthy of a look because HMS Maori, a WW2 destroyer sunk just inside Grand Harbour, is a skeletal mess now, and the "Beetle" - an ex-Gallipolli Great War infantry landing craft - are the only other "real wreck" alternatives.
The Med has suffered a lot from over fishing and pollution - when I first dived in Malta the sea was teeming with fish life, crustaceans and invertebrates, particularly sea urchins and small, highly coloured wrasse, however the last time I dived there after a break of some 17 years or more I was appalled at how lifeless it had become - Cyprus was much the same with little in the way of fish life apart from on the wrecks. As a result of the paucity of genuine ship wrecks in shallower waters, the Maltese authorities have sunk several small wrecks close in shore to add attraction to what has now sadly become rather barren waters.
I can find little in the way of information on this particular ship however, and to be perfectly honest even its east German provenance is in some doubt however one must rely on the word of the locals and it is they who told us it was east German in origin. It is one of two near identical ships sunk in 2007 and we were lucky enough to dive her only a couple of weeks after she had gone down. It is a long swim out and rather difficult to find however well worth the effort. On our first visit we found little life had appeared as yet however a second visit about twelve months later showed the beginnings of colonisation by a variety of creatures and many more small fish, the precursors to an ever swelling eco system.
The process of sinking these ships for divers is in itself of interest. The ship is sanitised first by the removal of all pollutants such as oil and fuel. In Britain and America the same kind of thing happens however with typical British respect for Elfen safety we have a propensity for cutting huge access holes throughout the superstructure leaving a wreck which has more in common with a pre-fab kit garage than a ship. Not so the Malts who just seem to clean it and then pull the plug. I am sure you will realise that a Maltese diver's wreck is therefore much more interesting!
The piccies...
First sight of the wreck appearing through the gloom almost 100 feet down.
TJ descends into the stern of the wreck where the engines used to be.
Looking through the engine room to the forward hold. Note the absence of any colonising life forms.
Part of the rudder mechanism. The cam seen here was turned by a steel cable attached to a large electric motor controlled by electronics linked to the bridge.
'er indoors
We are both using rebreathers on this dive, a type of technical diving system which recirculates the gas mix we are breathing, prolonging our time at depth and dramatically reducing our decompression time.
Although the rebo is amazing it is also rather cumbersome, especially because you have to carry a bail out scuba
cylinder on your hip in case of emergency. It makes swimming through tight corridors rather interesting
Emerging behind the bridge superstructure.
It was really amusing to find the Tasmanian Devil from Warner Bros' Looney Toons cartoons painted beneath the mast
You can clearly see the amount of extra tech kit TJ is wearing on this shot.
Entering the bridge lower deck area now and it will be a tight squeeze.
An urbexer's self portrait of sorts
except it's still 'er indoors, not me.
Easy does it is the order of the day to avoid snagging hoses etc.
What's she looking at
Ahhh... part of the fire fighting system.
Much of the appeal of this wreck was the sheer amount of opportunity to twiddle things! I expect it's all corroded solid by now though.
Fiddle fiddle fiddle
The bridge as seen from the bow decks.
Both of the clear view screens survived the sinking intact, not so the adjacent plain
windows which both shattered with the force of the water surge as she went under.
Both of the plain glass windows had shattered into crystalline shards reminiscent of the old Duralex drinking glasses we had for school dinners in the 70s...
You can see the bridge compass (middle bottom) with it's weather proof glass cover still intact on this shot.
Wrecks rapidly become artificial reefs for sub-aquatic wildlife. Already after just a couple of weeks a few small fish have begun to appear on the upper superstructure.
Ascending the radar mast. The plume of bubbles to the right are coming from TJ who is venting her buoyancy control system.
The rebreather does not make any exhaust bubbles unlike scuba so it is rare to see a bubble plume except during ascent.
And then quite suddenly we realised we were no longer alone
Believe it or not we noticed these scuba divers first by the sound of their bubbles Their dive duration would be roughly half ours and yet they would still incur upwards of 40 minutes deco penalty requiring them to wait at about 10 metres to avoid the bends. We on the other hand enjoyed over an hour at 100 + feet and swam straight back with no penalty what so ever.
Ahhh those rebos
Time to leave the ship now, gently ascending all the way. The release of
dissolved gas from our tissues is safely accelerated by the constantly changing
gas mix we are breathing, all controlled automatically by the rebo.
And that's yer lot
I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for looking...
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