''Um El Faroud'' was a

Libyan Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...

-owned single

screw A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to f ...

motor tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined cru ...

. Following a gas explosion during maintenance work on 3 February 1995, she was

scuttled Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...

off the coast of

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

as an

artificial reef An artificial reef is a human-created underwater structure, typically built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom, to control erosion, block ship passage, block the use of trawling nets, or improve surfing. Many ...

and diving attraction.

History

The ship was built in 1969 at Smith Dock Co. Ltd,

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, England and was owned by the General National Maritime Transport Company, Tripoli (GNMTC). She was assessed at and . She had been operating between Italy and Libya carrying refined fuel up to 1 February 1995. On 3 February 1995 she was docked at No.3 Dock of Malta dry docks. During the night of 3 February an explosion occurred in No.3 centre tank, killing nine shipyard workers. The vessel suffered structural deformation and, following inspection and survey, was considered a total write-off. She occupied the dock in the harbor of

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 wa ...

for three years until 1998, when it was decided that the best option to utilize her remaining value was to tow her to sea and scuttle her as an artificial reef.

Diving

The wreck sits upright on the sandy seabed southwest of Wied il-Qrendi. ''Um El Faroud'' is long. The vessel has a beam of , and a height from keel to funnel top of approximately . The depth to the top of the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

is and to the

main deck The main deck of a ship is the uppermost complete deck extending from bow to stern. A steel ship's hull may be considered a structural beam with the main deck forming the upper flange of a box girder and the keel forming the lower strength me ...

. The bottom rests at 36 metres. After a bad storm during the winter of 2005/6 the ship has now broken in two. Wreck penetration is possible with access to both the engine room and several of the smaller surrounding rooms in the stern section and parts of the mid and forward storage sections of the ship. While the wreck is still relatively new, it has quickly become popular with fish, including pelagic species such as tuna, jacks, and barracuda.

Scuba divers This is a list of underwater divers whose exploits have made them notable. Underwater divers are people who take part in underwater diving activities – Underwater diving is practiced as part of an occupation, or for recreation, where t ...

might come across some squid and

barracuda A barracuda, or cuda for short, is a large, predatory, ray-finned fish known for its fearsome appearance and ferocious behaviour. The barracuda is a saltwater fish of the genus ''Sphyraena'', the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae, which was ...

s at the stern.

References

{{coord, 35.82209, 14.44959, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:MT, display=title Shipwrecks of Malta Ships sunk as dive sites Ships sunk as artificial reefs 1969 ships Ships of Libya Underwater diving sites in Malta Qrendi 1995 in Malta Maritime incidents in 1998 Explosions in Malta