New diving site proposed off Exiles

A new diving site located 252 metres off St Julian's point and 380 metres off the Portomaso breakwater is being proposed by the Professional Diving Schools Association and the Malta Tourism Authority.

The two entities have presented an Environment Planning Statement  proposing the scuttling of the Tug 2 vessel at a depth of approximately 22 metres on a band of sand snaking out of the Balluta Bay-Spinola area towards the open sea and located in between two rocky areas that skirt the shoreline at Il-Qaliet, Portomaso and the Exiles areas.

Access to the new diving site will be from the exiles shoreline.

The location was moved from the original site of the application closer to Exiles so as not to impact the Posidonia oceanica meadows, a protected habitat, by Maltese law.

The nearest shore-based wreck dive sites to the new site are the HMS Maori, off Valletta, and the X127 Water Lighter, off Manoel Island both in Marsamxett Harbour. According to the Environment Impact Statement,  the two sites are the most popular dive sites in the central region of Malta.

"However, the HMS Maori is slowly disintegrating, and future access to the X127 Water Lighter is uncertain due to the ongoing development on Manoel Island."

Although the site is rich in marine life, the seabed within the area surveyed included a concrete mooring and stone slabs that seemed to have originated from the construction industry as well as metal and plastic beverage bottles and containers and vehicle tyres.

The vessel proposed to be scuttled is the tugboat Tug 2. The tugboat is 30 metres long and has a footprint of approximately 200m2.

Bezzina Marine Services Ltd later purchased the ship originally owned and operated by Kalaxlokk Co. Ltd. The vessel has been docked at Bezzina Shipyards for the past 12 years, and it has recently undergone the necessary cleaning and preparation for use as a diving wreck.

The ship was also cleaned of asbestos.

According to the EPS, the diving industry has never managed to effectively market the Maltese islands as a winter diving destination, even though the water temperature and diving conditions in winter are superior to those of most western European countries in the summer months.

The EPS documents findings from an online survey of registered dive centres (Gozo and Malta) and individual recreational divers.

The survey revealed that the most frequently used shore dive sites are those at Wied iz-Zurrieq and Cirkewwa. These include the wrecks: Um el Faroud, P29 Patrol Boat and Tug Boat Rozi. Other popular sites are the HMS Maori, off Valletta, and the tug boats at Zonqor Point. The most popular boat dive sites are the Imperial Eagle, the HMS Stubborn and the Bristol Blenheim bomber.

Suggestions for new dive sites/attractions included the sinking of wrecks in a number of locations such as at Qawra, Mistra Bay, Balluta Bay, St Paul's Islands, and at respondents of the survey called for better enforcement of environmental regulations.

The respondents were also of the opinion that the dive product could be substantially improved by controlling fishing, especially in the vicinity of dive sites, designating and managing marine protected areas, increasing the number of dive sites, and improving facilities.