Kingstown wreck
Locally known as Kingstown or Kingdom, the wreck of this Swedish shipyard lies today on the sandy backdrop of the Guardavalle coast (CZ). The ship, about 72 m long, was launched in 1965 under the name of Frigg and changed name several times to the name of Marineta in 1990 (owner Kasem Shipping Ltd. Kingstown). It is with this name that on January 5, 1993,
while sailing from Turkey to La Nouvelle with a cauldron cargo, he suffered a turmoil on the helm due to the bad weather, resulting in flooding of the engine room, and sank 4 miles North of Punta Stilo.
The wreck is divided into two parts: the stern is resting on its side about 100 m away from the rest of the ship, while the bow is in sailing navigation position, facing the coastline. The load winch retained on the bow is very nice.
Various species of sponges, urchins, spiral tube-worms and brown-colored bryozoans encrust the hull of the wreck, which has become a hunting spot for large seabass, as well as a place of small seriolafishes. It is surrounded by damselfishes, blue fish and seabreams; its holdings often host shrimps. It is a simple but pleasant dive, a dive for everybody and especially suitable for snorkeling and freedivers.
Historical photo – Courtesy of relitti.it
| Place | Guardavalle (CZ) |
|---|---|
| Type dive | Recreational Dive – Snorkeling – Free diving |
| Minimum depth | 3 m |
| Maximum depth | 10 m |
| Bottom type | Sandy seabed |
| Difficulty | Low |
| Level required | Open – Scuba diver – Junior OW |
| Interest | Biological and photographic interest |
| Notes | Presence of fish around the wreck: anthias, damselfishes, little groupers, breams, moray eels. The visibility is generally great, but it can sometimes be poor due to the presence of kaolin load on the bottom. |
