New wreck in Gozo, Malta

[Miyaru]

On the 10th of February 2018, the oil tanker M/T Hephaestus was wrecked on the shore at il-Ponta tal-Qawra, off St. Paul’s Bay in Malta at 6:15am.
According to the accident report (attached), she had been dragging her anchor since 05:30. At 0600, windspeed was 35.5 knots with gusts up to 52.7 knots (Force 10), coming from N/NW. The crew failed to start the engine in time, and the storm eventually threw the Hephaestus on the shore.

On August 15, 2018, the ship was pulled off the shore and refloated:


Repairs turned out to be too costly and preparations were started to scuttle the wreck as a diving attraction and artificial reef.

On the early morning of August the 29th, the vessel was towed to her final resting position south of Gozo at Xatt l-Aħmar.

Below is the video of the scuttling and the first inspection dive.



GPS position is 36.0700364,14.2612405
Maximum depth is 44.5m at the stern, top deck is at 32m depth.

 

[Akimbo]

Amazing. That didn't give them much time to prep the wreck for sinking as a dive attraction. It would take WAAAY longer just to get permits and inspections in the US.

The video makes it look like she was going down on her port side. I was surprised that she landed upright. Do you have any idea what turned her on the way down?

 

[Cthippo]

My understanding is that given enough depth most wrecks right themselves as they sink and end up upright. Once they are full of water the weight of the keel causes them to "land on their feet". It is only in quite shallow water where they cannot equalize before hitting bottom that they land in weird positions.

 

[scubadada]

Nice depth for a short rec dive

 

[Akimbo]

My understanding is that given enough depth most wrecks right themselves as they sink and end up upright. Once they are full of water the weight of the keel causes them to "land on their feet". It is only in quite shallow water where they cannot equalize before hitting bottom that they land in weird positions.

That is less true in modern merchant vessels. I have seen a lot of wrecks on their side and upside down in far deeper water. For example, the 700' long Andrea Doria is laying on her starboard side in 240' of water. It all comes down to the center of gravity and center of buoyancy, which can be very dynamic when sinking.

 

[Cthippo]

That may be a function of compartmentalization. The Doria was a modern passenger liner with extensive subdivisions and so would have taken longer to reach equilibrium. In addition, she sank in a couple hundred feet of water, so shallow relative to her length.

The taker in the OP has probably only two compartments that account for most of her volume and so once progressive downflooding took over very quickly came to equalibrium.

 

[Miyaru]

The answer is in the video

 

[Akimbo]

The answer is in the video

Either the salvage master was REALLY good or was having an "Oh Sh*t!" moment... probably both.

Related info​

A lot of modern ships come with computer programs for stability in the wheelhouse, which are provided by the marine architect. I have heard that salvage masters can them to model intentional sinkings but have not seen it done. Older ships just had tables or charts that stop well before sinking occurs.

This video is a decent introduction to ship stability calculations.

​

 

[Alucard483]

Will have to add this to my list for next time!

 

[scubayinzer412]

was a nice dive there. Middle of october
on the stern it sunks down to 49 meter/160feet