P29 Boltenhagen
The latest addition to Malta’s successful artificial reef program is the former East German mine sweeper P29 Boltenhagen. She was scuttled in 2007 in the popular dive area of Cirkewwa in Malta as the second wreck in the area – the first one is the very popular dive Rozi.
The wreck is pretty deep – 36-37 metres to the bottom and perhaps 31 metres on the main deck but that is understandable since the superstructure of the ship is very tall – at 15 metres you still have contact with the wreck. That said, due to the depth it is hardly a beginners dive.
I dived the wreck the day after the sinking and it is very interesting to see the development of her as a marine habitat and these days there is quite a lot of marine life on her. Unfortunately I have also had to see how some divers damage the wreck by smashing gauges and breaking the windows. Why do people do that?
I think this is a pretty good dive – it gets 3 stars in my books. The reason that it is not higher is that I find it hard to be extremely enthusiastic about scuttled wrecks but this is nice. In another 10 years I think it will be a much better dive when she has attracted more marine life and does not look quite as new.
Comments from a recent dive at P29 can be found here.
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