THE UM EL FAROUD

The ill fated tanker was scuttled on 2nd September 1998, three and a half years after an explosion in Grand Harbour, Velletta.  She is upright in around 35m of water and is roughly 110m long and 16m wide.  The prop and rudder are still in place.

The Rozi – Tug Boat

The wreck of The Rozi was deliberately sunk in 1991 as an underwater attraction for Captain Morgan’s Underwater Safari Tours intended as a submarine tourist attraction. The Rozi, a 40 meter long tug boat, sits upright on the sandy seabed, just off Cirkewwa reef.

This is a very popular dive site, a must when you are diving on the Maltese Islands. While diving this wreck make sure you take a minute to stop on the sea bed and look towards the mast to take in the huge number of wrasse, bream and much more that circle the wreck. In the beautifully clear, blue water this is the perfect wreck to perfect those underwater photography skills. You will also find the wreck of the Rozi is home to other marine life including nudibranchs, scorpion fish and morays, you may even find some barracuda cruising past.

The wreck is intact, except for the engine and propellers which have been removed. This is a shore dive and the swim over is from the reef towards the wreck. There are some penetration points on The Rozi, namely through the engine room.

Due to the depth and size of the wreck, when this dive is completed on nitrox, a thorough explore of the wreck can easily be completed without entering decompression. Once your bottom time is completed the return swim to the reef acts as a slow ascent. The reef is very pretty and is great way to finish a great dive. If your gas consumption is good there is a great opportunity to explore a couple of swim throughs in the rock itself. This is an absolute must when scuba diving in Malta.

The Rozi – Wreck Statistics

35 meters long Tug Boat

Visibility is superb 30m+

Depth of the deck is around 27m

Depth to the seabed is 36m @ The Bow

Min Certification PADI Advanced Open Water or equivalent

Preferred Certification PADI Deep & Wreck Specialties or equivalent

Divewise Wreck Rating: 9/10

The P29 – Patrol Boat

The wreck of the P29 was scuttled on the 14th August 2007, just off Cirkewwa reef, intentionally for divers. Even though this wreck has only been underwater a relatively short amount of time, the marine life is starting to build and big schools of fish and marine life are starting to make this wreck their new home.

This dive site is a short swim from shore and within about 5 minutes of jumping in the water you will be swimming around the decks of the P29. This wreck sits in around 30m of water, with the main deck in around 27m. The deepest part of the wreck is under the bow which sits in around 37m of water.

The P29 was cleaned and stripped of a lot of debris before she was scuttled which offers some great swim through opportunities for those of you with a Wreck Diving certification. There are some tighter spots which we would only recommend for more experienced wreck penetration divers, such as under the wheel house.

The engine room and electrical area of the P29 still has many of the gauges and instruments in place which allows you to really get a feel for what this ship was like when she was a functioning craft. At the bridge the P29 still has the remains of the glass in her windows, though these are pretty broken now, divers need to be cautious in this area. The back of the bridge has a painting of the Tasmanian Devil (cartoon character) in pride of place! This is a great wreck which is only getting better with time.

The P29 – Wreck Statistics

51 meters long Condor Class Patrol Boat

Visibility is superb 30m+

Depth of the deck is around 27m

Depth to the seabed is 37m @ The Bow

Min Certification PADI Advanced Open Water or equivalent

Preferred Certification PADI Deep & Wreck Specialties or equivalent

Divewise Wreck Rating: 7/10

The Beaufighter is a plane

The Blenheim Bomber is a plane

The Blue Hole is in Gozo

the imperial eagle is a boat

HMS Maori is a big ship

HMS Southwold

Length: 85.3 meters
Max depth: 75 meters

This Type II Hunt class destroyer, built by JS White, Cowes & Co and was launched on the 29th of March 1941.

History

After completing her trials and work-up, Southwold rounded the Cape as a convoy calling at Mombasa on the 12th of December 1941 and she joined the 5th Destroyer Flotilla at Alexandria during January 1942. She was immediately in action whilst forming part of the Malta relief convoy MW9B which came under heavy air attack and returned back to Alexandria.

On the 20th of March a convoy named MW10 left Alexandria consisting of four supply ships (Breconshire, Clan Campbell, Talbot & Pampas) These ships were escorted by the 15th cruiser squadron with a strong destroyer force and another scout close escort running ahead with the anti-aircraft cruiser Carlisle with 4 Hunt Class destroyers. Behind that, a squadron under command of Admiral Philip Vian followed with the light cruisers Dido, Cleopatra, Euryalis & Penelope plus some destroyers including HMS Southwold.

As soon as the convoy was located by the enemy, it was reported to Admiral Lachino of the Italian navy who hurried to it with his squadron composed of the battleship Littorio and 6 destroyers. He also signaled another Italian squadron made up of the cruisers Gorizia, Trento & Giovanni delle Bande Nere accompanied by another 4 destroyers to meet him and join forces. They met on the 22nd of March 1942 and waited for the convoy in the Gulf of Sirte, 150 miles NW of Benghazi, Libya. The Italians had superior power.

As soon as Admiral Vian knew of the approaching Italian force he moved forward with his small force to stand between the cargo ships and the Italians. When these were sighted later that morning on the 22nd of March, Vian realized that he was not only heavily outnumbered, but also outgunned, since Lachino had the 15 inch guns of the Littorio and the 8 inch guns of the cruisers against his 6 inch and 4 inch guns on his destroyers. So the British laid a smoke-screen to prevent the Italians from taking proper range. They began to dash in and out of the smoke-screen firing damaging salvoes at their superior opponents and then doubling up behind the smoke screen before the Italians could take range.

The engagement was broken of that morning, but the Italian squadron approached again in the afternoon. This time Admiral Vian closed the range to under 10000 yards (9.1 km) and emerging out of the smoke-screen succeeding in hitting the Littorio with a salvo which started a fire on the battleship. The Italians responded and the British cruiser Cleopatra was hit and severely damaged. A quick counter attack by the British destroyers including HMS Southwold emerging swiftly out of the smoke blanket hit Littorio again with a torpedo and also managed to hit the cruiser Giovanni delle Bande Nere. The Italians withdrew. This was recorded for history as the Second Battle of Sirte.

German airplanes took over the attacks as they were determined to prevent the convoy from reaching Malta. When the convoy was about 20 miles of Malta, The Germans hit Clan Campbell and sank her. By now, the convoy was within reach of fighter protection from Malta. Hurricanes and Spitfires flew out to protect the remaining ships.

On the 23rd of March 1942, one of the merchant ships in this convoy, Breconshire was hit by enemy bombs and stopped a few miles off St Thomas bay. The weather was becoming rough and Breconshire was drifting helplessly towards shore. The crew on the Breconshire managed to anchor the ship 1.5 miles off Zonqor Point. The following morning on the 24th of March Breconshire was dragging it's anchors over the sandy bottom. HMS Southwold was ordered to Breconshire, but while trying to pass a line to the disabled ship, a mine exploded under her engine room. One officer and four ratings were killed. All power and electrical services were lost, but the diesel generator could still be started. The engine room flooded but water flooding into the gearing room was held in check by shoring up the bulkheads and blocking leaks. A tow was attached to the Southwold by the tug Ancient, but the ships side plating abreast the engine room split right up to the upper deck on both sides. She sagged and took a list to starboard. The wounded were transferred to the destroyer Dulverton. The midship portion gradually sank lower and the ship started to work with the swell. She was then abandoned, started to settle with considerable sag and sank in two parts.

Specification

Displacement: 1,070 tons standard, 1,450 tons full load
Length: 85.3 m
Beam: 9.6 m
Draught: 2.51 m
Propulsion: 2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers
2 shaft Parsons geared turbines 19,000 shp
Speed: 27 knots standard 25.5 knots full load
Range:3,600 nautic miles (6,700 km)
Complement: 164
Armament:

• 6 × QF 4 in Mark XVI on twin mounts Mk. XIX
• 4 × QF 2 pdr Mk. VIII on quad mount MK.VII
• 2 × 20mm Oerlikons on single mounts P Mk. III
• 110 depth charges, 2 throwers, 3 racks

Dive

The ship lies in two sections, 300 meters apart, approximately 1.5 miles off Marsascala Bay. Because of this they are usually done as two individual dives. The bow is the largest section, right up to the engine room approximately 40 meters long and lies on it's starboard side in 68 meters of water. The stern section approximately 30 meters long lies upright in 75 meters of water. The wreck itself as well as the area around it is covered with debris and shells.

* The ships bell can be seen at the Malta Maritime Museum in Birgu

Le Polynesien

Length: 153 meters
Max depth: 65 meters

The Polynesian was built for "La Compagnie des Messageries Maritimes" at La Ciotat, France and was launched on 18th of April 1890.

History

Like her sister ships "Australian", "Armand Behic" and "Ville De La Ciotat", she was quickly recognizable by her length, low profile on the water and the double funnels painted black. All ships were painted white between 1895 and 1905.

In 1891 she started operating between France and Australia, through the Suez Canal. In 1903 her route was changed and she operated between France and the Far East mainly transporting passengers to the French colonies. In 1914 it operated towards Australia and New Caledonia, before being dispatched back to Europe were she was transformed into a troop transported for the first world war.

On the 10th of August 1918 she was hit by a torpedo from the German UC22 (which also sank Luciston Collier) and sank in 35 minutes, taking 10 lives. She now lies 7 miles outside the entrance of Valetta Grand Harbour.

Specification

Length: 153 meters
Beam: 15 meters
Gross tonnage: 6659 tons
Displacement: 10300 tons
Passengers: 172 First Class, 71 Second Class, 109 Third Class and 234 'Rationnares'
Propulsion: 1 steam engine, 12 coal boilers
Speed: 17,5 knots

Dive

The wreck lies at it's port side on a 45 degree angle, about 7 miles outside the entrance of Valetta Grand Harbour. The two deck guns, one on the bow and one on the stern are still present. Due to currents that are nearly always present, which vary from mild to very strong, there is an amazing amount of marine life to be found at this site, like big grouper and large schools of barracuda If certified, there are lot's of penetration possibilities on the Polynesian, nicknamed 'the plate wreck', due to the amount of plates and artifacts that can still be found on the wreck.

The Madonna

Submerged in a cave 18m deep, along with plastic flowers and a plaque to commemorate her, the Madonna sits serenely looking out into the deep blue. She was placed there by the Amphibians diving club in 1987 and was later blessed on the anniversary of her placement Father Bezzina. For some divers it is an opportunity to say a prayer, for others it is simply a photo opportunity. Whatever the reason, the shrine has certainly become a popular dive with both religious and non-religious divers visiting it.  There is also a swim through nearby the shrine at a depth of 11m.

For those interested in marine life, on this dive there is the possibility of seeing; octopus, jellyfish, scorpion fish, cardinal fish, and if you’re lucky some larger fish such as tuna, barracuda and recently even triggerfish. Fireworms are also common in the area.

Susie's Pool

Susie's pool at Cirkewwa is a nice shallow pool with depths ranging from 2m to 11m. This is a very scenic dive normally with plenty of colourful peacock wrass about. It has a ramp and a railing to make entering and exiting the water easy. It is nice and sheltered so it is often used for shallow training dives such as Open water, Discover Scuba, navigation and Peak performance buoyancy courses when the house reef (Dragonara) on the east side of the island is blown out. Those doing courses will be taken through parts of the pool where the depth meets the standards for their particular course.

Divers doing deeper dives such as the Madonna and the P29 will normally pass through Susie’s pool when getting in and out of their dive.

Cirkewwa Arch

The Cirkewwa Arch was once a large cavern. The roof collapsed and left a spectacular arch, the top of which stands at 12m and reaches down 8m to the sandy bottom. The arch is located on the edge of a protected reef before a drop off to a sandy bottom at 25m which is often used for practicing skills on the Deep Speciality course. En route to the arch there are two swim through’s. One is an L shape so you can’t see the exit straight away however this means it attracts more marine life such as small fish. Most of the area is covered with flowering posedonia and it is common to see fish like barracuda, jacks, silver bream and crayfish.

 X127 Water Lighter

The X127 is a World War 1 Lighter constructed on the river Thames in Newcastle and was used in Turkey to transfer water from the ships to the beach to fill reservoirs. After WW1 it came to Malta and was converted to a fuel oil Lighter to supply submarines. On 6^th March 1942 dive bombers attacked the submarine base and the X127 sunk after catching fire. It still lies where it sunk, on a slope with its bow at 5m and its stern at 22m. You enter the dive from a rocky ledge next to an abandoned hospital and swim along the shore at 5m. You will likely see remains of hospital beds which were discarded when the hospital was shut down. A section of the port side of the wreck has been ripped open by bomb damage and you can see into the narrow vessel. There isn’t much marine life near the wreck but there is a chance to see some on the swim to the exit which is a bit further past the entrance point.

 The Um El Faroud - Tanker

The Faroud is a spectacular wreck to dive. It is a Libyan wreck that was being worked on in a Maltese dry dock when a gas explosion on board killed 9 Maltese dockworkers. Three and a half years after an explosion in Grand Harbour, Valletta the ill fated tanker was scuttled on 2nd September 1998. She is upright in around 35m of water and is roughly 110m long and 16m wide with the prop and rudder still in place. After a bad storm in winter 2005/6 the ship has now broken in two so that the the right of the rear section aligns with the left of the front section. This is one of Malta’s more challenging wreck dives, there is a lengthy swim from shore which reduces the time on the wreck however for anyone who loves wrecks this is defiantly a must see. There are some swim throughs around the bridge and decks and the wheel house can be entered, which leads to the lower decks. Scorpion fish, barracuda, sea bream and tuna are commonly seen on the wreck. There is also a resident Moray eel.

 bomber

Ghar Lapsi

The picturesque cove at Ghar Lapsi is the main entry and exit point to access the site. There is the option of exiting the cove to get to the sea through a shallow cave or simply out of the coves main exit. The cave has 3 exits that come out at 9m. The area is a mixture of sand where majestic stingrays and flying gurnards can be seen. There is also posedonia where you will often see Damsel fish and the shyer parrotfish. Down at 22m in a cavern a crib has been placed. They are life sized figures of the nativity scene cut from plate metal which is now decorated with colourful sponges and algae. To the North West there is a cave sat at 19m which leads up onto finger reef which sits at 10m. To the North east of the crib is the middle reef where there is some interesting topography including the Lizards head. It is common to find octopus in the middle reef. The dive route taken around the reef will depend on the divers’ qualification.

Santa Marija Caves

Comino is well known for its crystal clear waters which always result in brilliant photographs. The Santa Marija Caves are a pleasant shallow dive with a max depth of about 10m. This site can only be reached by boat. We often take bread or banana to this site to feed the fish during the dive which results in the divers being surrounded by an ever moving ball of silver, an indescribable sensation that you just have to experience for yourself. Because of the clarity of the water when you are inside the caves look at the cave entrances as the penetrating light glows a brilliant blue. Larger fish such as grouper can be found lurking in the caves. A dive certainly not to be missed.

Inland Sea and Tunnel

Entering into the 2m deep inland sea, at first it may appear to not be that impressive however once you swim 60m across and reach the entrance to the 80m long tunnel that’s bigger than a bus you’ll marvel at the dramatically shaped walls and the way the light changes as you descend from 9m down to 26m where the tunnel opens out into the sea. Because the tunnel is so long you need to take a torch on this dive in order to appreciate the colours of corals and other marine animals that can be found in the tunnel. Because of the variation in the amount of light through this dive there you get to see a greater diversity of marine life than you would find at some of the other dive sites. Depending how much time is spent in the tunnel there may be time to explore the outer wall as well.

Anchor Bay

Many people who haven’t every dived before are already familiar with Anchor bay because it is the site of Popeye Village. The depth range is from 2 to 12m. There is a jetty to enter and exit the water. Main attractions are a large anchor at 8m and a large cave in the cliff face that reaches a depth of 10m. For the avid critter spotter colourful nudibranchs can be found here if you have keen eyes and the patience to look for them. Also gilthead bream found in the area are believed to be escapees from a local fish farm.

The Imperial eagle

The Maori

This is a wonderful, easy and shallow dive with all the excitement of the wreck, plus the chance to see beautiful wildlife. At around 14m depth, the Maori is a real WWII wreck.  Nearly every dive you can see Flying Gurnard fish, Moray eels and octopus.  If you know the right people, you might even find the sea horse!!