Hephaestus Shipwreck at Xatt L'Ahmar

Delving back into history, there are stories of St Paul being shipwrecked close to the island of Malta, many suggest this happened on the islands of St Paul located just outside St Paul's Bay and each year it is celebrated with a public holiday on February 10th. On this date in 2018 however there was another very famous shipwrecking which occured. That of the MT Hephaestus which ran aground at Qawra Point.

The MT Hephaestus is a Togo registered 60 metre, 885 tonne Oil Tanker which was bunkering off the Maltese North coast during a period of bad weather in February 2018. Having lost its moorings and with its prop becoming entangled the Hephaestus was in trouble and the waves quickly pushed the vessel closer and closer to shore, eventually crashing on the rocks behind the Aquarium at Qawra Point. It sat here for almost 6 months before it was deemed safe enough to refloat and drag to the harbour for further inspection.

Upon inspection and following conversations with the insurance agencies it was deemed that the vessel was no longer fixable and would never return to a working life again. This is where the Professional Diving Schools Association with support from the Maltese Tourist Authority stepped in with an offer to purchase the scrapped vessel, make it environmentally safe and scuttle it as an attraction for Scuba Divers across the world to visit. The process was long and made more so by the difficulties in finding a suitable location for such a large vessel, deep enough to be safe from adverse weather, shallow enough to be enjoyed at recreational diving limits, with easy access ideally by shore and away from the protected meadows of Posidonia grasses. Finally a location close to Xatt L'Ahmar on the South coast of Gozo was decided upon and the ship was scuttled on the 29th August 2022.

The first time diving the shipwreck was a very surreal experience as we were able to plan a trip only a few days later and the ship was still very much a sterile environment but it was a special feeling knowing that you are one of the first people to see this impressive vessel underwater. Over the last few months the dive site has changed already and will continue to do so over the following months and years becoming more and more a part of the enviornment and a habitat to the marine life which lives in the area.

The wreck itself lies at a depth of between 35 and 50 metres so is definitely one for those with the Deep Diving certification and plenty of experience. I do feel that over time this will become a dive site primarily for those with technical diving certifications however you can explore the upper levels at a recreational level. Have you been one of the few divers fortunate enough to visit one of Malta's newest artifical reefs?