This Russian Cruise ship sunk on the 16th of February 1986 as she tried to take a short cut between a rock and a hard place. The crew tried to reach safety along the beach in Port Gore but the ship settled back down into the bay. Of the 740 passengers and crew aboard only 1 crew member lost his life.
The wreck is 155m long and lies on her starboard side in 35m of water. Visibility is often low and and on this trip ranged from 3-5m on the outside, only slightly better inside for those that explored a little further in.
Divers were completing a variety of courses over the weekend with some doing their TDI Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures courses and others completing the PADI Wreck Diver Course.
With typical spring conditions we were blown out on the wreck after our first dive and decided to explore one of the reef sites instead as training continued. Another dive was conducted on the mussel farm which is a unique dive experience and a good place to practice skills in midwater.
Back on the wreck there were plenty of opportunities to explore after our skills were completed – we checked out the terakihi and sweep that hang out around the funnel, scorpion fish and Jock Stewarts nestling on the wreckage and a carpet shark trying to relax on the hull.
On the last dive Claire finally managed to visit the engine room and with a huge grin on her face had a swim in the pool and went to the movies!
A quick snack as we threw our dive gear into our bags and we were jumping into a water taxi back to Picton – this is a beautiful trip around the bays of the Marlborough Sounds and a great way to finish the trip.