Malta’s most famous wreck dive is also a memorial to nine men who lost their lives while carrying out repair work on the vessel.
It was a tragedy that shook the island to the core, and is still remembered to this day. At 10:15pm on 3rd February 1995, a gas explosion ripped through the Libyan tanker Um el Faroud, killing nine shipyard workers. At the time, the tanker was undergoing maintenance work in Dock No.3 at the Malta Drydocks in Grand Harbour.
The explosion caused extensive structural damage and the vessel was considered a total write-off. But for the next three years, Um el Faroud remained stuck at Dock No. 3 until an inquest was carried out and a decision was taken to give the vessel a new lease of life as an artificial reef.
In September 1998, hundreds of people lined the coast off Wied iz-Zurrieq outside the village of Qrendi on Malta’s southwestern shore to bid the Um el Faroud an emotional farewell as it was towed out to sea. It took four hours for the vessel to sink as the crowds, including relatives of the deceased, watched, many with tears in their eyes.
Within eight months of being scuttled, Um el Faroud was already teeming with flora and fauna. Today, it is considered one of the best and certainly the most popular wreck dives of the Maltese Islands. It is now home to countless fish species including shoals of squid, tuna, jacks and barracuda, while the deck is swarming with thousands of bogues and a variety of sponges cover the wreck.
Originally built in England in 1969 and operating for 26 years between Italy and Libya carrying refined fuel, today Um el Faroud sits upright on a sandy bed in two parts, after a bad storm during the winter of 2006 broke the vessel in two. The wreck is just 200m from shore and can be reached after a gentle 10-minute swim across the reefs. It lies at depths of between 18m and 36m.
Experienced wreck divers can explore inside the vessel through several passages with relatively easy exits. Look out for the brass plaque commemorating the men who lost their lives on the vessel: George Aquilina, 24, from Qormi; Charles Callus, 46, from Valletta, Mario Hales, 39, from Mqabba, Simon Pisani, 22, from Msida, Angelo Sciberras, 51, from Zabbar, Anthony Vassallo, 29, from Dingli, Paul Seguna, 37, from Zebbug and George Xuereb, 58, from Qormi.