Independent Scuba

Hellespont

Hellespont is a relatively recently discovered wreck off the Grand Harbour – she was discovered in 1999 and this is one of my favourite dives. She is a victim of the intense bombings of Malta during WW2 but the ship is considerably older than that. She is in fact the only paddle steamer I have ever dived on and this makes her very special.

I have heard two different versions of her sinking and since I don’t know which one is the correct one I’ll include both. Version 1 is that she hit a mine while sweeping for mines during the siege of world war two. The other one is that she was damaged by italian aircraft and sunk in the Grand Harbour. After the war she was lifted and dumped off the Grand Harbour where she rests today. Out of the two versions I would vote for number two since I doubt that paddle steamers would be good at mine sweeping and another fact that supports her being moved is that the bow is missing and is not to be found anywhere near the wreck. Maybe the bow is still in the Grand Harbour?

This is a relatively advanced dive with a max depth of 41 metres and a min depth of 35 metres. The bottom is rocky and dark so there is not so much ambient light. I was not so impressed by the wreck after my first dive but since then it has grown into one of my favourites. I really like all the details – the hatch in the boiler room where you can squeeze in, the remains where the paddles used to be and the ammunition lying on the seafloor. It is also awesome that this is one of the best places in Malta to spot moray eels and conger eels.

I use this wreck alot for trimix training – it is a proper wreck dive with some challenges but the depth is moderate. I prefer doing it with oxygen as a decompresson mix but it can be done as a deep no stop dive although it becomes very short. About 20 to 25 minutes bottom time is usually good to see most of the wreck in peace and quiet.

This dive gets 5 stars in my book. The main contributing factors are the history, the details and the moray eels! I must admit that is is a rather biased and many people would argue that it should be scored lower.

The rudder of Hellespont. Note the absence of a propeller.