The Um El Faroud is the wreck of a Libyan motor tanker that was being worked on in a dry dock in Malta when a gas explosion on board killed nine Maltese dockworkers. For three years after the 1995 explosion she lay in the harbor of Valletta, then she was moved to the current location. She sits upright on the sandy seabed southwest of Wied iz-Zurrieq. The Um El Faroud weighs 10,000 tons and is 115 metres (377 ft) long.The depth to the top of the bridge is 18 metres (59 ft) and 25 metres (82 ft) to the main deck. Scuba divers might come across some squid and barracudas at the stern. The wreck can be entered fairly easily, but due to its size, this should be restricted only to divers with advanced wreck diving training.
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| Um El Faroud: Scuba Diving Sites Malta & Scuba Diving Sites Gozo |
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Um El Faroud was built in 1969 at Smith Dock Co. Ltd, Middlesbrough, England and was owned by the General National Maritime Transport Company, Tripoli (GNMTC). 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 and nine shipyard workers lost their lives. The vessel suffered structural deformation and, following inspection and survey, was considered a total write-off. She occupied the dock after the explosion until it was decided that the best option to utilize her remaining value was to scuttle her as a diving attraction and to start a new life as an artificial reef. The vessel measures 109.53 metres (359.4 ft) in length, and has a beam of 15.5 metres (51 ft); the height of the vessel from keel to funnel top is approximately 22 metres (72 ft).
Um El Faroud was a single screw motor tanker.After a bad storm in winter 2005/6 the ship has now broken in two. ref.
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