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.

So – in spite of being a deliberately sunk wreck Um el Faroud does have a story to tell. While being repaired in the Malta drydocks in 1995 a gas explosion occured which killed 9 shipyard workers – a massive tragedy in a country as small as Malta. The explosion caused lots of structural damage and she was deemed unsuitable for any further commercial use so the opportunity came up to scuttle her to benefit the islands dive industry. The scuttling took place in September 1998.

She is massive – 110 meters long and with a height from the keel to the top of the funnel of 22 metres. A storm broke the wreck in two pieces a few years ago and she is gradually collapsing. That is in my opinion not a great problem – she was almost too intact before and she feels more like a “real” wreck when she is slightly damaged.

The marine life on the Faroud is often good. Big dentex are rather common, as are barracuda. You can almost always see lots of purple nudibranchs on here and this is also one of the two places where I have spotted dolphins underwater. Besides that there is always the usual cloud of damselfish and breams. In short – very nice.

Diving the Faroud can be rather tricky. It is a long swim from the entry point (perhaps 10 minutes) and some of it in blue water. There are currents which can change quickly and in addition to that, often rather poor visibility (20 metres or less most days). The depth is between 35 and 18 metres so that in combination with all other factors mean that it is very easy to use too much gas and not save enough for the way back. Unfit divers will struggle with the distance and if that is not enough the hill from the exit point to the car is very steep.

A wreck in this condition and size literally asks to be penetrated and it is very rewarding to do so. Some sections are relatively safe but one must be extremely catious in the lower areas where there is a very thick layer of slit. Do not go there without proper training or equipment.

If you want to get the most our of Faroud I strongly recommend a nitrox blend, 32% is pretty ideal. It takes away the stress of running low on both the NDL and on gas. Divers with high gas consumption should go for larger tanks as well.

I am not 100% sure what rating to give this dive but in the end it will be 5 stars. People travel far simply to do this dive and it is easy to understand why. She is huge and I have thoroughly enjoyed over 100 dives on her so she is well worth her stars!