Larnaca Bay, Cyprus

The Zenobia was a 12,000 ton ro-ro ferry built in 1979 in Sweden, 172m long with a 23m beam. In June, 1980, she capsized and sank in 42m of water in Larnaca Bay, with a cargo of 104 fully loaded articulated lorries (and 1 car), due to a problem with its computerised stabiliser system. The ship now lies in 42m of water on its port side with almost all of its cargo intact and a number of lorries still chained to the cargo decks, and is certainly the most impressive dive in Cyprus.

On such a large ship there was plenty to go at through out the week, and some of the places covered were;

  • The bar restaurant area on "B" deck. Entered through an open door at the front of the super structure at 25m this large room spans the width of the ship so it varies in depth from approx 16-38m inside there are remains of carpet on the floor and the bar area is quite visible. An easy exit can be made through one of the smashed starboard windows or it is possible to work your way aft through past the toilets to a door at the rear of the superstructure. This is quite difficult as a lot of the partition walls have collapsed and none of the side windows here are large enough for a diver to slip through. A good second dive can be made here.
  • The bridge. It is still possible to see the panels and circuitry that were used here.
  • The upper car deck can be accessed quite easily from the open decking at the rear of the superstructure. Swimming through it is possible to exit at the far end through an open door that is quite visible, though without specs it can appear too small to fit through, and you may feel the urge to turn around (Sladey). All of the trucks inside have slid to the port side of this deck but they are worth checking out. One of the most popular is the truck carrying bottles containing ethyl alcohol which when released from the truck float up to the starboard side of the deck. A large number of these are trapped above the lorry.
  • At the rear of this deck lorries are scattered on the sea bed. There is still one truck attached at the tractor end by chains to the deck and it appears to be hanging delicately from this single thread, (not something to swim beneath). The swim between the funnels and over the closed rear door is impressive, arriving at the props, which for a ship this size were disappointingly small.
  • The middle car deck can be accessed by a number of tight squeezes either from the front or near the rear of the ship. This deck is totally enclosed and makes for a very impressive dive. Again there are more trucks with various cargos and one lone car on this deck. It is possible to swim the whole length of the ship in this deck, we entered at the front and left near the rear getting to the closed rear doors of the ship. I would recommend this as a guided dive because the exits from this deck are not visible and the only natural light to enter this deck is a ray of false hope with no exit written all over it.
  • The ramp between the upper and middle car decks is located on the port side of the ship and can be accessed from the sea bed. It is possible to follow this ramp to the rear of the ship however entry to the middle car deck is very restricted and it appears to be blocked at the end, we only managed as far as the digger. There is a hatch from this ramp into the engine room, but great care must be taken here as there is no light to indicate the deep exit and the room is prone to silting up. All of this dive is deep (approx 40m) so bottom time is limited and one has to ask is it worth doing a deep enclosed dive with no visible means of exit.

It is worth noting that a number of divers have lost their lives on this wreck and that some of the dives should only be considered by experienced wreck divers or as part of a guided dive.

The dive team consisted of Gareth Jones, Michael Littler, Ian Hathaway, Steve Slade, Karen Foley, Steve Taylor and Alan Brown from Bury Sub Aqua Club with Jon and Chunky from the dive centre with 3 Brummies and another squaddie joining us on various occasions. We spent the whole week diving the Zenobia with just one break to do HMS Cricket an upturned naval motor boat at 30m and a scenic dive? at Cape Greko, but after doing those it was straight back to the main event.

Thanks go to Gareth for organising the trip and everything seemed to come together very well. The late deal on the flight even if they had to nail the door shut. The accommodation at Daniandrou Appartments even if we didn't know what they looked like and where they were was very good. The timing at the end of Feb, hardly any divers and a nice contrast to the snow in Bury. And there was a boat to take us diving. Thanks also go to Jon & Chunky from Octopus Divers for making the diving memorable, for showing us some of the fine apres diving to be had as well as providing one of the finest zits ever to be squeezed. All in all making a magic holiday in a roundabout sort of way.

Alan