HMS Maori Malta -16 meters.

HMS MAORI, this Tribal class British Destroyer was 1959 ton, built in Govan in 1937 with total length of 115 meters and 11 meters wide, her armaments were 8* 4.7 in guns 4*21 in torpedo tubes, she was twin screw with top speed of 37 knots and had crew of 190 men, she had a very event full life in the Royal Navy.
Bit of a history lesson on her, May 1940 stationed in Norway, May 1941 she was involved in the chase to hunt down the Bismark  and helped save 90 sailors from her, later 1941-42 she was involved in a number of convoys around Malta.

During the early morning bombing raid on Valletta, a parachute flare was dropped to light up the harbour so enemy fighter bombers could see what was ships were docked and the destruction started, as the flare came down it got caught in the  mast and she light up like a Christmas tree, every plane tried to bomb her but unfortunately she took a direct hit and the order to abandon ship was given &   3 hours later she sank.                                                                                                                             

In 1945 it was decided that she could not stay were she was due to shipping hazards, so she was re-floated and cut in half the stern section was taken out of the harbour and sunk in deeper water, romours between divers over the last 3 years have emerged saying the stern has been found in 80 meters of water 3 miles out but till now they are romours, but the bow section was towed to the next harbour bay of Fort St Elmo we she sits today, originally in 18 meters of water but over the last 60 years the sea is claiming her as her own as most of the deck have collapsed and filled with sand.

Gun shells clearly marked 1941.

But today it still has so much for entry level divers to see the big guns were salvaged but the turrets are very visible so are a lot of her gun shells clearly marked 1941, the radio mast lays down on the sand now broken in 2, sea bream and scorpion fish swim between her decks and some days you can even see the odd  sting ray passing, a lot of sponges of different colours grow freely on her structure.

And if your like me your always on the look out for something new and different to find while side mount diving i decided to head into the lower deck and this should only be done by experienced divers,after 73 years after she was sunk to my amazement sitting in the back of the lower deck sticking out of the sand was a teapot after 1000 dives on this wreck that was the last thing i ever thought i would see.

Upper deck

Teapot found in the lower decks....

Still even though she is a shallow wreck she is full of life and always some thing new to find on her, and to take beginners on her who have never dived a wreck its just a absolute pleasure to see there faces when we get up after a dive and all you can hear them talk about is the wreck and the next thing is 'is it time to go back in' now you know they are hooked on wreck diving.                                                                                                                                                                    


For more information on diving in Malta or HMS Maori    techdivingmalta@gmail.com 

MV COMINOLAND GOZO. - 42 meters.

Built in England in 1942 by Philip & sons ltd of Dartmouth and named Minor Eagle, this 295 ton passenger ship 34 meter in length and with 8 meter beam, was 1^st registered in Malta in may 1992 and renamed cominoland by captain Morgan cruises, then scuttled in August 2006 alongside the Karewla made headlines across dive communities around the world, as buoyancy tanks and lift bags were used to ensure that the wreck landed upright in the water settling exactly 35 meters below on the seabed.

he Cominoland is another superb wreck that marine life is just beginning to make it home, but excellent penetration is available and with some slight storm damage to the bow end this gives the wreck a spooky feel. With the addition of these two new wrecks in Xatt L Ahmar, Gozo plan for a couple of dives.

Entry point from the ladder compass bearing 140-150’ you should reach the wreck within 7-10 min. swim out over the reef till you find the cliff edge, keep your depth around 15 meters giving you better bottom time. The Comino Land is slightly shallower resting on even keel at 32 meters, however it has sustained some damage to its bow during sinking, and additionally unlike the Karwela it was scraped of all its paint to see if marine growth attached to it faster, which along with the damage, makes it look more like an actual wreck. Once you have explored the wreck heading back on bearing 270’ westerly off the bow ascending to 15 meters to your left after 3 min you will pass over the bow of the MV Karewla then turn to bearing 330’ north will bring you back to the reef left of the entry /exit point. This wreck is shore dive, and for experienced deco diver, currents are frequent, local orientation is needed. Bring food and make sure you have been to the toilet as there is no facility’s on site.

 

For more information on diving in Malta e-mail us-

techdivingmalta@gmail.com

HMS OLYMUPUS MALTA -120 meters

Malta was of huge strategic importance during World War II.

Between 1940 and 1942, the British Navy fought a German and Italian blockade to keep the island supplied with food rations, war supplies and fuel. By November 1942, the Allies had triumphed and this victory is credited with paving the way for eventual Allied success in North Africa.

HMS Olympus was an Odin-class submarine, a class originally designed for the Royal Australian Navy to cope with long distance patrolling in Pacific waters and was well armed, 8 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (6 bow, 2 stern) 1 × 4-inch deck gun & 2 × .303 inch AA machine guns .

 Olympus was built to the same design for the Royal Navy. She served from 1931-1939 on the China Station and 1939-1940 out of Colombo. In 1940 she was redeployed to the Mediterranean. She was damaged on 7 July 1940 when bombed by Italian aircraft while in dock in Malta. Repairs and refit were completed on 29 November 1940. On 9 November 1941 Olympus attacked the Italian merchant ship Mauro Croce (1,049 GRT) with torpedoes and gunfire in the Gulf of Genoa. The target escaped without damage. 

In the photo inset you can see manuel island in the back ground of Olympus, it is believed the boat loading supplies is to be the last existing ship x-lighter 127 which was hit in a raid shortly after this photo was taken and lays under the hospital in the top left of the photo in depth between 6 – 19 meters.

HMS Olympus struck a mine in the early hours of 8 May, 1942 shortly after she left Malta Harbour under the cover of darkness. Nearly 90 men perished in what was one of the worst naval disasters of the war. Only nine of the vessel's 98 crew members survived after swimming seven miles back to shore in cold water. The exact spot where the 283ft-long submarine sank in the Mediterranean Sea remained a mystery for 70 years. Although a team of divers from the United Kingdom and Malta had claimed discovery of the wreck in 2008, its identity was not confirmed until a team from the Aurora Trust was able to re-locate the wreck in 2011 and capture images with a ROV later in the year. The wreck sits upright in 115m of water and is largely intact.

MV XLENDI GOZO -42 meters

MV Xlendi Gozo

MV Xlendi formally known as the MV Helsingor built in Feb 25th 1955 and was used as a ferry around Denmark till she was sold off and renamed MV Royal Sheeba in 1987 and only a year later she was moved on to yet again another shipping company in Denmark and renamed the MV Borgshorn in late 1988 till late 1990 were it seen here come to Malta.

From 1990 till 1999 she operated for the Gozo ferry company between the 2 islands transport passenger and holiday makers back and fort......
 She was decommissioned and scuttled as Gozo first artificial reef on the 12th November 1999 at 14.45hrs she slipped silently beneath the waves, but beneath the waves it was not the same thing on her way down she hit the reef at an angle causing her to roll down the reef deeper than planned and ended up side down.

One of the single propellers at one end of the ship.

Now sitting on the sand at depth of 42 meters, she in her self is a great dive to swim around on, as next to her is a few cars that missed the loading bay..lol  you can swim around her outer decks and the enormous single screw and rudder at 36 meters at one end and 37 meters at the other end.

swimming between the outer decks.

Caution cant be expressed enough on this wreck unless you are qualified to penetrate and are deco trained pls refrain from entering the wreck as its upside down it is so easy to get disorientated and lost with in the large ferry as as once in side down is out and up is 'your trapped' many people have lost there lives in there at their own risk as there are plenty of signs on the wreck forbidding entry to the wreck.

The car that missed the ferry!

All over the wreck signs clearly state not to enter.

Marine life grow all over the wreck from scorion fish and big morays to the most colorful nudibranch                    
around her bow i have even come across spiny lobsters and big octopus, she is a wreck not many people visit due to her      distance from the entry point 800 meters and of course she up side down but on the way back there is a lovely stony reef
if you swim 2 min north from the wreck you find your self in 22 meter following this all the way back to the drop off it just fantastic.                                                                                                                                                  




For more information on this wreck contact us techdivingmalta@gmail.com

P29 Patrol Boat Malta -39 meters.

P29 Minesweeper started life on cold October morning of 1969 as sheet steel took formation over the next few months, then on 22nd may 1970 she was launched and became known to the Germany navy as ‘boltenhagen’ (GS09),she was kondor I-class  mine sweeper for the east Germany navy until unification of east and west Germany became one, she was decommissioned in June 1996 till she was bought by Malta in July 1997 and re-named P29.

She was then used to patrol costal water around malta with immigration and smuggling at the top of their list of daily patrols, till she was then decommissioned in 2004, And she was bought by Malta tourism authority in 2005,with plans to turn her into an artificial reef for divers which took place on 14th August 2007 after she was cleaned from all marine pollutants and oils.

Now sitting just off the coast of cirkewwa port at a depth of 33 meters and sitting up-right, once in the water at the training area, swim to the ledge which is around 5/6 meters deep, you should see the drop off to 22/25 meters now take a bearing 320.c and follow out for approx 110/120 meters, watch out for strong currents, now you should be on the stern, swimming towards the bow a lot of the doors have been removed to make it easier to enter the wreck, it’s a great wreck for penetration,  and for beginner’s to learn more about deep wrecks and what’s involved, penetration recommended to do with guide and for more experienced divers due to depth and overhead environment.

Now on the bow a deck gun has been made and fitted by local divers which is great for u/w photos as we leave the deck gun heading back up to the bridge you can enter with care as its tight but you can swim round it easily then move a bit shallower to the crow nest and here it is normally full of squid/calamari eggs hanging in pearl white strings like pearl necklaces, staying at this level around 17 meters you can start heading back to land, as you swim across the exhaust stacks watching other divers swimming onto her, now you have left her behind you think about what you have seen and its full of marine life, from eagle rays, groupers to barracuda swimming around her hull while upon the ship morays sticking their heads out of holes and on the hand railings and decks can be found covered in  brightly colorful Nudibranchs of all types sizes and patterns’ they are just to beautiful to take photos of.

 

For more information on diving in Malta e-mail us-

techdivingmalta@gmail.com

Padi Tec & Rec 40.

The PADI Tec 40 course is where you transition from recreational scuba diving to technical diving. It’s a great place to start because it’s the first subdivision of the full PADI Tec Diver course and bridges the gap between no stop diving and full technical deep decompression diving. You gain experience and begin building the knowledge and skills you need to continue your tec diver training. You will qualify to make limited decompression dives to 40 metres.

To enrol in the Tec 40 course, you must be:

A PADI Advanced Open Water Diver
A PADI Enriched Air Diver with at least 10 dives using enriched air deeper than 18 metres
A PADI Deep Diver with at least 10 dives to 30 metres
At least 18 years old and have a minimum of 30 logged dives
You also need to have a Medical Statement signed by a physician within the last 12 months.

If you have the above then you are ready to join us!

You can book direct with me or our tec center Buddies Malta.
www.facebook.com/techdivemalta
www.buddiesmalta.com/en/divecoursesmalta/divecoursespackages/24/tec-40.htm

UM EL FAROUD MALTA. - 38 meters.

Um El Faroud was a 10,000 ton Libyan owned single screw motor tanker,
She was built in 1969 England and was owned by the General National Maritime Transport Company, Tripoli. She had been operating between Italy and Libya carrying refined fuel up to 1 February 1995, Lenght 115 meters  & 15 meters wide 3,147gt vessel.
 On 3 February 1995 she was docked at No.3 Dock of Malta dry docks. During the night of 3 February an explosion occurred in No.3 center tank and nine shipyard workers lost their lives and 11 were injured in the exploson that could be heard over the island,

She was then declared irreparable and her faith was to be scuttled for divers off blue grotto wied iz zurrieq, So on the morning of 2nd September 1998 she was towed into position and around 3.30pm she slipped silently beneath the waves to start her new home on the sea bed, she then rested on the sand upright at 35 meters,The propeler and rudder are still in place and make good photos, in 2004 Malta was hit by major storms that closed down the island for just over 10 days Nov/DEC, and oh boy were divers in for a suprise to find the wreck was now in 2 sections were she split midship and moved about 3 meters away from each other, just goes to show how power full the sea can be to move this ship, but now it has opened more options for divers as it has made her easier for divers to swim between her tanks.

Teaming with flora & soft sponges all over from bow to stern, with shoals of barracuda making it there home during the summer months,and squid in the winter time laying the eggs as they hang like pearl beads, Amberjacks are also home to the wreck along with spin lobsters down in the depth of her corridors, were ever i seam to turn there is always something new to show divers and i must have done over 500 dives on the wreck.


This dive is for Advance level divers or above
its about 8-10 min swim out to the wreck and you must calculate for currents on this dive and on every dive,as you could swim out to her and it would be a perfect dive till its time to get back and you cant due to very strong current,you could be luck and have the current drag you back which is always a bonus 12 ltr or even 15 ltr tanks are always advised on this dive no matter how good you think you are!

For more information on diving this site contact us- techdivingmalta@gmail.com