Scuttled frigate breaks in two as fish move in

The scuttled warship Waikato has broken in half on the seabed off Northland.

However, in the 14 months the ship has been on the bottom, it has become the permanent home for a wide range of fish and crustaceans and locals say the wreck has helped put Tutukaka on the map as one of the world's premier dive spots.

The ship was scuttled with a series of 12 explosive charges in 28m of water in Ngunguru Bay, 20km north of Whangarei, on November 25, 2000.

The ship sank upright but bow first. But when the bow hit the bottom, it creased the hull just behind the twin 4.5-inch gun turret which was left on the ship for the sinking.

The ship settled with the bow slightly off the seafloor and several months ago the bow broke off.

"We had a big easterly and the bow fell off to the port side and is now lying about five metres from the hull," Peter Vink, a spokesman for Tutukaka Coast Promotions, said.

"The guns are lying on their side. It is a true wreck with the rest of the ship sitting upright with a list to the port side.

"There are a lot of fish and it makes it an awesome dive. With the front of the ship removed there is good access and water flow.

"The fish life has gone crazy with a lot of gold snapper and some huge crayfish."

Mr Vink said the fish life in the Waikato had grown a lot faster than in the wreck of the Tui, a former navy oceanographic research ship which was scuttled slightly north of Tutukaka several years ago. In spite of the teeming fish life, divers were respecting the site and not taking fish, he said.

Waikato can be seen by free divers with the bridge only 12m below the surface, about 1.2km from the shore.

Mr Vink said the wreck meant with one visit divers could dive on several different sites, including Waikato, Tui and the nearby Poor Knights, now listed as one of the 10 best dive sites in the world.

"They can dive on one wreck in the morning, do the other wreck in the afternoon and the following day they can do the Poor Knights."

Mr Vink said although money was still owed on the scuttling, it was well worth the effort.

"It was a pretty outrageous thing we set out to do, two ships in a short time. But both have been really successful and there has been no damage to the environment."

- NZPA

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