Zenobia Ship Wreck
The Zenobia shipwreck is one of the most famous wrecks, not only in the Mediterranean Sea, but also in the whole world. Zenobia shipwreck, Cyprus. It is fairly characterised and classified as one of the “top 10 ship wrecks” due to its short distance from the shore, its incredible marine life, and its considerably accessible depth for recreational diving.
Zenobia
Lloyd’s registration number: 7806087
Built: 1979 by Kockums, Malmo Sweden.
Length overall: 172,02 meter (560 feet).
Beam: 23.04 meter (75 feet).
Draught: 13.01 meter (43 feet).
Gross tonnage: 12,000 tones.
Maximum speed 21.5 knots.
Swedish roll-on-roll-off ferry fully loaded with 108 trailers and trucks.
Dive Site: Zenobia
Location: 10 minutes from Larnaca
Description: 10,000 ton ferry
Length: 178 metres (584 feet)
Depth: 16 metres (52 feet) to the top of the wreck, 43 metres (141 feet) to the seabed
Visibility: 20 metres (65 feet)
Rating: *****
About the Zenovia Wreck Cyprus
The Zenobia is for divers who visit Cyprus. It is a large, roll-on roll-off ferry that was built to operate in the eastern Mediterranean.
Story 1:
It was during its maiden voyage from Sweden to Syria that it sank. The steering was not working correctly, so the Captain made the decision to pull into Larnaca Harbour. Here engineers noticed a major problem with the onboard computer system that resulted in water being pumped into the ships ballast tanks. The Zenobia was towed into deeper waters about half a mile from Larnaca so that the engineers could work on the problem, but it was listing to an angle of 45° so it was decided that there was nothing that could be done to save the ferry.
The Captain requested that the Zenobia should be taken back to the harbour, but permission was never granted as a ship of that size would effectively prevent traffic from entering Larnaca Harbour. It took two days for the ferry to sink, taking the 104 articulated lorries that it had on board with it, zenobia wreck larnaca.
The Real Story:
Zenobia Wreck dive Cyprus. The Wreck was registered to carry up to 140 passengers. She sunk on her maiden voyage to Cyprus in 7 June 1980 off Larnaca’s fishing harbour. Zenovia is now lying on her side at 42 meters.
She has two decks, and two stern doors (1 port, 1 starboard), powered by two 7 cylinder, single acting, oil-fired two strokes engines. They delivered 18,760 bhp.
She sank outside Larnaca’s fishing harbour at 2:30 am on Saturday the 7th of June 1980. Her history and the intrigue over her sinking deserve an article on their own but to give you an idea the rumours range from computer error and insurance scams to Middle Eastern security forces. The most popular theory though surrounds her computerized ballasting system, as this reportedly developed a fault while on route to Larnaca.
A maintenance team was sent aboard to correct the problem and successfully managed to correct the list to 5°. However, at 5pm on the evening of the 6th June 1980 the Captain mistakenly dismissed them, dispatching them back to land. This was later to prove to be a fatal mistake as the following day at 2am she sank, taking her cargo to her final resting place…
Position: 34, 53.5 N, 33, 39.1 E (1.500 meters from the shore).
Here are some picture of the Zenobia before she sank…
“ZENOBIA” shipwreck
The Zenobia shipwreck is one of the most famous wrecks, not only in the Mediterranean Sea, but also in the whole world. It is fairly characterised and classified as one of the “top 10 ship wrecks” due to its short distance from the shore, its incredible marine life, and its considerably accessible depth for recreational diving.
Zenobia was a Swedish roll-on, roll-off (Ro-Ro) ferry that was making its voyage to Syria, when at half a mile away from the Larnaca coast it faced problems with its computers systems. It was on the night of the 2nd of June in 1980, that the first radio contact was made about reporting that the ship was having problems. Soon after, on the 3rd of June, the ship started to create a slope towards its port side, without anything that could be done to save it. The crew was safely removed before the tragic happened.
The big question is still unanswered, how such a massive ship like the Zenobia could sink such easily? Many suggested that the ship was sunk due to a computer design and operation system failure that controlled the ballast buoyancy tanks. Others supported that the ‘malfunction’ of the computer system was caused by ‘accidentally switching-off’ the system. This was claimed that had to do with an insurance scam for receiving the insurance company’s compensation money. Others claimed that the ship was carrying drugs and others said that some rocket missiles were in the ship and that is why the ship created such a mystery.
Zenobia was a monster ship, with a total length of 174 meters and 28 meters of wide. It displaced a total of 10,000 tons of water. At the day of ‘her’ final journey, Zenobia was loaded with 104 trailers, trucks and lorries, fully loaded with cargo such as food, cigarettes, eggs and many others.
The maximum depth where she went down is about 42 meters of sandy seabed. The ship is sunk on its port side, so you can reach the top of it at only 16 -17 meters of water. Both the maximum and the minimum depths that the wreck is, are ideal for both beginner divers just competed their open water course or for the most experienced divers, diving on air or on technical gases and wishing penetration into the “heard of the wreck”.
We always suggest divers do not to swim along the under the vehicles found hanging still to the wreck, as they can weight more than 40 tonnes and are held by chains that are constantly loosing their strength. All the windows of the main super structure have been broken for some years, since 3 divers were trapped in one of the wrecks rooms, in separate events, as they were on penetration dives. Two of those divers were drawn, because running out of air, while one of them was rescued by local diving instructors. These accidents have added much to dive safety as now divers have second thoughts about attempting a penetration. Much of the wrecks internal parts have collapsed and the rust makes visibility closing to zero.
The wreck can be better be explored with Nitrox, because it will allow you more bottom time, thus reducing your decompression stops. If you happen to dive on air, always make sure you use correctly the dive tables, or follow your dive computer’s instruction for a safe dive.
You must always have in mind that your compass will not work close to metal objects (such as the wreck) and also be careful of disorientation because the whole thing is at an angle of 90 degrees.
Cyprus’s diving centres, still celebrate the day that the Zenobia was sunk. The whole diving industry in Cyprus was developed and expanded basically on this famous wreck, zenobia wreck larnaca.
Is always better to seek local advice before diving the Zenobia alone, for weather conditions, currents, boat trips, and which route to follow while being underwater. Always follow the local dive guides or instructors, because they have dived the Zenobia hundred of times. Spare drop tanks should always hanged on the boat for both required and precautionary safety decompression stops. Our large boats always have oxygen tanks on-board for emergency situations.
Easy Divers can provide all your needs for this special wreck dive and also guidance for a unique excursion. You can combine this wreck dive with the Wreck Diver speciality, Nitrox courses, or even the basic courses of the Advance and the Master Diver courses.
One of the many other things that will make this dive an unforgettable dive is the marine life found on the wreck. Both around and inside the wreck, you can see a variety of different species of fish from giant groupers, to giant passing tuna fish, local barracuda, kingfish, jacks, trigger fish, moray-eels, stingrays, turtles and many others.
The wreck attracts thousands of divers from all over the world, just to see the pristine wreck of the Zenobia. It also amazing that you see it from the airplane when you are landing to the Larnaca airport
If you are really interested for a serious wreck dive, then Zenobia is a MUST DIVE.
