The Zenobia wreck can be found off the shore of Larnaca city. A Swedish Challenger RO-RO (Roll on – Roll off), while on her maiden voyage and fully loaded with some 108 trucks and trailers when it capsized. Just 10 minutes into the sea you will find this ship laying on its side. Its length is 178 meters, depth of 42 meters and visibility at 20 meters. The wreck was named in 1980 as one of the top 10 wreck diving sites in the world. It continues to be ranked in the top ten even till today 2021.
How did the wreck happen? Well it was while on her maiden voyage from Sweden, Malmo on her way to Tartous Syria. She had made her way through the Strait of Gibraltar, making a stop at Crete, Pireaeus, Athens and then came to Cyprus. But was is intriguing is that on the way to Athens they found an issue with the steering. They did their checks and found excess water in the ballast tanks. So after fixing the problem the made their way to Cyprus. Arriving to Cyprus, the Captain finds that the issue still remains with the excess water. As the issue could not be fixed since the software was the issue, Zenobia was then towed out of the Larnaca port to avoid any issues within the port. They towed her out to around 1.5 miles offshore. Two days later, around 2:30 am, Zenobia capsized and sank to the bottom. No crew was lost as the Captain had already dismissed them 2 days prior.
Zenobia site allows for all level of divers to explore. From beginners to full on advanced and very experienced divers. The outside of the dive site is full of amazing and wonderful species of fish and you may even spot turtles, stingray, octopus and moray eels.
Much of the cargo, trucks and trailers, is still intact which has many diver’s eager to explore the area. Some of the areas to explore are the propellers, roro doors, the cargo, bridge, bow area, cafeteria and also the accommodation areas.
If you are not a diver, then you can explore through a glass bottom boat. On days where the sea bed is calm you can see from the glass bottom boat some of the wreck. It may not be as much as divers can see but the sight will amaze you. You can also see various fish and if you’re lucky a turtle or two.
