Shattered wreck poses greater danger

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Stuff.co.nz
By Chuck Churchouse
March 21, 2006

Fresh tales of the shattered remains of the frigate Wellington report twisted and torn metal, a darkened wreck and a surge that threatens to impale divers.

Some of the first divers to visit the wreck since it was ripped into three pieces by 12-metre seas say they have a new respect for the power of the ocean.

Joanne Long dived on the bow section of the ship – off Island Bay, Wellington – on Saturday and described it as darker and less inviting than it had been, with "jagged edges as if it had been opened by a giant tin-opener".

"You could still hear it groaning," she said. "It's a mess."

The ship's hull snapped in stormy seas two weeks ago, the stern section disintegrating further as it was pushed about 50 metres across the sea floor.

The ship was declared off limits till till police divers had checked it out.

Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast was one of the first to dive on the ship when it was sunk as a dive attraction in November. After seeing it at the weekend, she said it resembled a "metal can that had been twisted and torn apart".

"It's not just like it's broken in half . . . the hull has been dimpled. The end that has snapped off is just twisted metal. It's incredible. This is thick metal."

Commercial trips to the wreck resumed on Friday after the harbourmaster lifted the exclusion zone around the wreck.

The police dive squad told charter operators the stern section was so badly damaged that divers could be impaled on exposed metal by underwater swells.

Dive companies have changed their pre-dive instructions to warn divers of the new dangers and have forbidden entry into the wreck unless divers are specially qualified.

"The biggest change now is the orientation, less escape routes and you have to treat it a lot more carefully," Splash Gordon dive skipper Dave Watson said.

"We're telling people not to go in it, and I am quite forceful about that."

Some divers were not heeding the warnings, but till more exploration had taken place people needed to be careful, Mr Watson said.

For all the potential danger, diver feedback was getting better.

Island Bay Divers' Tim Walshe said customers were saying the wreck was a far more exciting dive than when intact.

Mr Watson said the new wreck was keeping people talking.

"They seem to be genuinely saying it's a better dive than it was. Before it was a hulk; now it's a true wreck. Even the police divers are still discussing it."

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