MS Zenobia
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MS ''Zenobia'' was a
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
-built ''Challenger''-class RO-RO ferry launched in 1979 that capsized and sank in the Mediterranean Sea, close to Larnaca, Cyprus, in June 1980. She now rests on her port side in approximately of water and was named by '' The Times'', and many others, as one of the top ten wreck diving sites in the world.


History

''Zenobia'' was built at the Kockums Varv AB shipyard in
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
and was delivered to her owners Rederi AB Nordö in late 1979. She left Malmö, Sweden, bound for Tartous,
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
on 4 May 1980, loaded with 104 tractor-trailers with cargo destined for the Mediterranean and the Middle East. She passed through the
Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...
on 22 May 1980, stopping first at Heraklion, Crete and then to Piraeus, Athens, Greece. On the way to Athens the captain noticed steering problems and ''Zenobia'' began listing to port. Following checks, it was determined the list was caused by excess water that had been pumped into the ballast tanks; this water was pumped out and she then departed for her second to last stop at Larnaca, Cyprus before reaching Syria. She arrived at Larnaca on 2 June 1980, where the ballast problem had reoccurred, engineers discovered that the computerized pumping system was pumping excess water into the side ballast tanks due to a
software error A software bug is an error, flaw or fault in the design, development, or operation of computer software that causes it to produce an incorrect or unexpected result, or to behave in unintended ways. The process of finding and correcting bugs i ...
, making the list progressively worse. On 4 June, ''Zenobia'' was towed out of Larnaca harbor to prevent her becoming an obstruction should the worst happen and was left at anchor roughly offshore. On 5 June, with the ship listing at around 45° the captain dismissed the engineers and maintenance crew, and requested permission to return the ship to Larnaca harbor. The requests were denied. At around 2:30am on 7 June 1980, ''Zenobia'' capsized and sank in Larnaca Bay at ( from the shore) to a depth of roughly , taking her estimated £200 million worth of cargo with her. There were no casualties in the disaster. A
Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
documentary investigated the theory whether ''Zenobia'' was sabotaged by
Mossad Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...
and MI6. Of her two sister ships, is still operational as of January 2021; was scrapped in October 2011.


Wreck diving

The wreck is consistently ranked as one of the top 10 recreational dive sites worldwide. As a dive site, ''Zenobia'' provides a wide range of challenges to
scuba divers This is a list of underwater divers whose exploits have made them notable. Underwater divers are people who take part in underwater diving activities – Underwater diving is practiced as part of an occupation, or for recreation, where t ...
, from a fairly simple dive to depth along the starboard side of the ship (suitable for newly qualified divers); moving up to a more advanced dive inside the upper car deck and accommodation block, right up to extremely adventurous dives within the lower car deck or the engine room (which are only suitable for very experienced divers).Trip Advisor: Zenobia Wreck
/ref>


References


External links


Gallery

Scuba diving
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zenobia Ships of Sweden Shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Maritime incidents in 1980 Wreck diving sites 1979 ships Ships sunk with no fatalities Underwater diving sites in Cyprus