Wreck at 115m in Malta remains unidentified

[Stuart Jones]

Wreck remains unidentified
I can confirm that TecDeepBlue in Malta have once again made the dive to the unknown wreck and have now found features that are not consistent with those of a submarine. On our first dive at 110m we had very low viz and so could not confirm or deny the fact that the wreck was a sub. It had some features which were consistent with the wreck of the Olympus. But, as the part that we descended on was so damaged by an explosion and we had a relatively short bottom time, 12 mins, then as stated in the article posted by Mark, we could not confirm the identity of the wreck.
This position is consistent with the last known position of the HMS Olympus and the Hydographical surveys showed a wreck 70m long by 4m high and 7m wide, which roughly matched the dimensions of the HMS Olympus. We were with a good skipper, Owen Buhagiar of Barrascuba.com who had also thought that the features identifiable on his fish finder were consistent with those of a submarine.
On our second dive to investigate we aimed for the middle of the wreck for the obvious reasons that if this was a sub we would encounter the conning tower. Owen put us exactly in the right position that we had asked for and we descended once again into a current pulling ourselves down to the bottom. On reaching 95m we encountered much better visibility and could see much of the middle section of the wreck. We had a longer bottom time, of 14 mins at 112m, which allowed more time for investigation.
We observed features that are obviously not those of a submarine such as two elliptical holes which resemble funnel stacks and winches inconsistent with a submarines design. Although there are some features which are confusing for a ship such as the lack of a gunwale and her narrow beam, 7 or 8m, we could see straight into the engine rooms and concluded that this was not a sub.
We have been at first disappointed by this and yet now thrilled at the same time as we still know that the Olympus is still out there waiting to be found and that we have discovered a new wreck in Maltese waters , which is waiting to be identified. I have some ideas of what she may be, possibly first world war, but I will keep researching those myself right now until we have a chance to dive her once again. We will keep you updated on the progress in identifying this and many other new contacts that are still to be investigated.
We now have many great deep technical dives available in Malta, such as the Polynesien, HMS Southwold, the Schnell Boot, HMS Russell and HMS Stubborn and are proud to add another wreck to the list, even if its identity is not confirmed as of yet.
I would like to make a special mention for Owen Buhagiar who runs the best technical dive boat in Malta and has been instrumental in all the work that we have been doing.
Also thanks to Mark Powell who is one of the best technical instructors we have had the pleasure to dive with. Thanks also to Paul Duckworth, Uwe Vogel, Mark Shillings and Simon Ross Deveau who were all involved in different support roles to allow these dives to be conducted.

Stuart Jones and Jonathan Thomas
TecDeepBlue Malta
Tec Deep Blue specialists in technical and wreck diving in Malta
dive@tecdeepblue.com

Owen Buhagiar
Barrascuba - Dive Leaders