Um El Faroud
{{short description| Libyan owned tanker scuttled as dive site off Malta }}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
| {{Infobox ship begin |display title=ital}}
|+Um El Faroud {{Infobox ship image |Ship image=Partie arrière du Um El Faroud.jpg |Ship caption=Wreck of Um El Faroud }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship name= |Ship owner=General National Maritime Transport Company |Ship country=Libya |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Libya|1977}} |Ship operator= |Ship registry= |Ship route= |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=Smiths Dock Company |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=31 May 1969 |Ship completed= |Ship christened= |Ship acquired= |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship identification={{IMO|6918613}} |Ship fate=scuttled as an artificial reef |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= |Ship type=Motor tanker |Ship tonnage=*{{GRT|3148}}
|Ship displacement= |Ship length={{convert|115|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|15.5|m|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught= |Ship draft= |Ship depth= |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship ramps= |Ship ice class= |Ship sail plan= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion= |Ship speed= |Ship capacity= |Ship crew= |Ship notes= }} |
Um El Faroud was a {{DWT|5390}} Libyan-owned single screw motor tanker. Following a gas explosion during maintenance work on 3 February 1995, she was scuttled off the coast of Malta as an artificial reef and diving attraction.
History
File:Plaque commémorative pour les victimes de l'explosion du Um El Faroud.jpg
The ship was built in 1969 at Smith Dock Co. Ltd, Middlesbrough, England and was owned by the General National Maritime Transport Company, Tripoli (GNMTC). She was assessed at {{GRT|3148}} and {{DWT|5390}}.{{csr|register=MSI|id=6918613|shipname=Seafalcon|accessdate=17 May 2021}} 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.
{{cite web
|website=Divesite Directory
|title=Um El Faroud
|url=http://www.divesitedirectory.co.uk/dive_site_malta_wreck_faroud.html
|access-date=2008-09-14
}} 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 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 {{convert|115|m|ft}} long.
{{cite web
|website=Visit Malta
|title=Um El Faroud
|url=http://www.visitmalta.com/en/info/umelfaroud
|access-date=2008-09-14
}} The vessel has a beam of {{convert|15.5|m|ft}}, and a height from keel to funnel top of approximately {{convert|22|m|ft}}.{{cite web |url=http://www.marinefoundation.org/wrecksumelfaroud.htm |title=Um El -Faroud Project |website=Malta Marine Foundation |access-date=2009-08-30 |archive-date=2 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402141138/http://www.marinefoundation.org/wrecksumelfaroud.htm |url-status=dead }} The depth to the top of the bridge is {{convert|18|m|ft}} and {{convert|25|m|ft}} to the main deck. The bottom rests at 36 metres. After a bad storm during the winter of 2005/6 the ship has now broken in two.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}
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 might come across some squid and barracudas at the stern.
References
{{reflist}}
{{Shipwrecks of Malta}}
{{1995 shipwrecks}}
{{1998 shipwrecks}}
{{Recreational dive sites|wresit}}
{{coord|35.82209|14.44959|type:landmark_globe:earth_region:MT|display=title}}
Category:Ships sunk as dive sites
Category:Ships sunk as artificial reefs
Category:Underwater diving sites in Malta