Zenobia Wreck

The Zenobia Wreck by George Tatsis Jr

Zenobia was a Challenger-class RoRo Ferry boat which built in 1979 in Sweden at Malmo from the Kockums Varv AB. The length of the ship was 178 meters the beam 28 meters and the maximum draught 13 meters. The tonnage of the ship was 10,000. 

Its first trip started on 4 of May 1980 with 104 lorries on board and with cargo that should reach Mediterranean market and Middle east.

On its way to Athens the captain noticed steering problems and after a mechanical check they discovered   that excess water had been pumped into the ballast tanks. In the port of Piraeus they tried to fix the problem and they continued their trip to Larnaka Cyprus which was their next destination. On 2 of June they reached Larnaka but the problem reoccurred and for 3 days they tried to fix it without any success. 

When the ship reached 45 degrees inclination the captain asked for immediate evacuation. All the engineers and the maintenance staff left with safety but the ship with all the lorries inside start sinking. At 02.30am 7 of June 1980 the Zenobia was sank in Larnaka Bay to a depth of 42 meters together with 200 million pounds worth of cargo.

As it was obvious Zenobia started to attract divers which were curious to see from close what happened to this huge ship. Now is estimated that more than 100 thousand divers visit per year the Zenobia wreck which has been voted one of the top ten wreck dives in all over the world. The Zenobia wreck is also the first dive site in all over the world  in which so many lorries lying down to the bottom .

To visit the Zenobia wreck you have to be Advanced Open Water diver and in order to reach the depth limit of 40 meters you must have the deep specialty. Is also recommended to have the wreck specialty in order to see as more from the wreck. Of course if you are tech diver the Zenobia will be a great experience for you because there are so many parts of the boat that you can penetrate and reach the main deck were the most of the lorries are.

When you reach the port of Larnaka the queen Zenobia can transfer you to the dive site and is anchoring exactly to the buoy which can lead you at the middle of the Zenobia wreck at a depth of 17 meters where is the right side part of the boat and is the most shallow point.In order to cover the whole ship you need at least to dives the first to the stern and the second to the bow.

While you navigate the first dive to the stern you drop from 17 meters to 25 where you will find the first lorries hanged on the deck. Is an amazing moment because the image can travel you to the past when zenobia sank and you try to visualize what happened while the ship was going down. While you continue you pass under the funnel in which you can find some holes which have trapped aer inside and the water cannot come in. 5hese holes are small and only your head can put in.after you pass the funnel you can see more lorries laying down to the bottom of the sea at 42 meters depth. You can also see the cargo of the lorries like mirros panels eggs etc.

After this you move to the propelas which are huge and where a morey eel has been established. After this you return back to the anchor line where you start your ascent.

On the second dive you navigate to the bow of the ship and the first thing that you see are the life boats which most of the are damaged probably while the Zenobia was sinking.Then you continue to the bridge are where you are able to penetrate it. Is a very easy penetration because big windows can let you exit immediately. After this you go to the bow from where you can see the the front part of the ship and its beauty. The last destination is the coffee area where you can see the red carpet and also the machines that they where using to prepare the food and the coffee. Again you exit from big spaces that are every few meters and you go back to the anchor line where you will start the ascent. At 5 meters and while you are making the 3 minutes safety stop you can see a big part of the ship which again makes to travel back at the moment that The Zenobia sank and visualize how it got down on its left part.

During the dive schools of sea breams will welcome you and groupers will accompany you. You are able also to see barracudas wrasses amber jacks morrey eels blue spotted cornet fishes and in the turtle period you can see also turtles.

Blue spotted cornet-fish

Because is protected area a lot of marine life has been established to this amazing artificial reef.

If you are a diver and you didn't visit yet The Zenobia wreck you must add it to your diving list and you will remember the dive for the rest of your life.








Below you can also see a penetration video to the bridge of the boat

So if you decided to add Zenobia to your Bucket List do not hesitate to contact me for further information on my e-mail George Tatsis