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The Um el Faroud is one of Malta's iconic wreck dives. It may have been sunk deliberately in its current location but not without a tragic story. This Libyan oil tanker was in dry dock in Malta in 1995 when an explosion occurred, killing nine shipuard workers.
The wreck was badly damaged and considered to be beyond repair. It remained in Valletta harbour for three years until the decision was made to scuttle Um el Faroud as an artificial reef.
Easily reached from the shore of Wied iz-Zurrieq (even more easily with a DPV), this 115 m-long wreck lies in 36 metres. That puts it right at the edge between recretional and technical diving. Yes, you can dive it with a single tank, but believe me when I say it's hard to see all of this wreck in one rebreather dive, let alone in a single-tank dive.
Despite living just a ferry ride away, I haven't had that much opportunity to dive the wreck, so I have Kati to thank for dragging me across the water to accompany her on a mission to get to know this dive site better. Kati had done much prep work already and had drawn a really cool map of the engine room.
I have to admit to being a bit of a kid in a candy store, not knowing where to put the camera first because there was so much to discover in and around that engine room. So, here is a look at the stern and especially at the Um el Faroud's engine room.
Kati dived on a twinset with a stage while I stuck with my trusty Kiss Sidewinder CCR rebreather. To learn more about rebreather diving and Sidewinder courses, check out kisssidewinder.pro.
Stay tuned for another, more planned video of the same area hopefully later this year. And check out darkhorizondiving.com for tech diving courses and dives.
5 сен 2024
