An old tugboat was sent to her final resting place yesterday as she was scuttled to become a diving attraction off Exiles Point in Sliema.
Watched by Tourism Minister Karmenu Vella, Malta Tourism Authority CEO Josef Formosa Gauci and curious bathers, Tug Boat 2 seemed reluctant to go down, taking around an hour to sink.
But the old ship eventually succumbed to her fate and disappeared suddenly beneath the waves to cheers from onlookers and the blaring of horns from support vessels.
She now rests 20 metres below the surface and some 389 metres from the Portomaso breakwater and 250 metres from St Julian’s Point.
Mr Vella said diving was an important part of Malta’s tourism. It attracts over 80,000 tourists annually, which is comparable to the number of people who visit the island to learn English.
Our waters are renowned for their cleanliness and clarity
“Our waters are renowned for their cleanliness and clarity but wrecks such as this help to improve the variety of marine life,” the minister said.
Mr Formosa Gauci pointed out that diving helped attract tourism arrivals in the shoulder months. It also brought tourists to Gozo and the north of the island.
“Wrecks enhance our tourism product. It’s about finding the right balance between our natural underwater attractions and manmade ones,” Mr Formosa Gauci said.
The scuttling was organised by the MTA and Tourism Ministry in collaboration with the Professional Diving School Association.
Among those watching was Alexia Sciberras from Dive Systems diving centre, which is based at Exiles.
“We have been asking for this for many years so we are very pleased,” she said.
Ms Sciberras was looking forward to seeing more abundant marine life in the area as a result.
Exiles Point was chosen as there are no other wrecks there. The nearest are the HMS Maori, off Valletta, and the X127 water lighter, off Manoel Island. The Maori is slowly disintegrating and future access to the X127 is uncertain because of the ongoing development on Manoel Island.
The 30-metre long, 9.5-metre high Tug Boat 2 was bought from Bezzina Marine Services Ltd for a nominal fee. It had been docked at Bezzina Shipyards for the past 12 years.
Prior to her scuttling, the vessel was cleaned and had all asbestos removed.
Besides the numerous wrecks that have sunk or been scuttled around the Maltese islands over the centuries, nine others have been purposely scuttled for diving in recent decades.
They are the MV Rożi and the former patrol boat P29 in Cirkewwa; the Um El Faroud in Żurrieq, the Imperial Eagle off Qawra Point, the MV Xlendi, the MV Cominoland, and the MV Karwela at ix-Xatt l-Aħmar, Gozo; Tugboat 10 and St Michael at Żonqor Point, Marsascala, and the former patrol boat P31 off Comino, which was the most recent ship to be scuttled in 2009.
Malta was voted the third best diving destination in the world by readers of Diver Magazine this year.
“The temperate Mediterranean is sometimes overlooked in our rush to get to tropical sites, but the extremely clear water and wealth of wrecks, not to mention marine life, makes it a worthy recipient,” the magazine said of Malta.
A luxury boat sails past the sinking Tug Boat 2 at Exiles Point, Sliema. Photos: Matthew Mirabelli