One of the dive sites we run here in Malta — here's the story behind it, the depth and access, and what it takes to dive it properly.
MV Um El Faroud was a steel motor tanker built by Smith's Dock Co. at Middlesbrough, England, and launched on 31 May 1969. She was about 110m long with a 15.5m beam. Launched as Seafalcon and working out of Norway for four years, she was renamed Um El Faroud in 1973 in Libya and ran refined fuel between Italy and Libya until 1995. On the night of 3 February 1995, while in dry dock in Grand Harbour for maintenance, an enormous gas explosion tore through the ship. Nine Maltese shipyard workers were killed — seven instantly and two later in hospital — one of the worst peacetime disasters in Malta's history. After three years laid up in Valletta, she was patched and towed to Wied iz- Zurrieq, where she was scuttled as an artificial reef and diving attraction on 2 September 1998, sinking a few hours after arrival. She sits upright on a sandy bottom from about 15m at the funnel to 36m at the propeller. During a heavy storm in the winter of 2005-2006 she broke in two amidships; the sections have shifted so that the bow and stern no longer align, leaving a gap of a few metres between them. A memorial to the nine workers stands above the site. Vast, atmospheric and richly colonised, she is one of Malta's signature dives and an outstanding platform for Advanced Nitrox and wreck training.
The diving here suits divers at Decompression Procedures level. If you’re not there yet, these are the courses that get you there:
Already certified and just want to dive it? Come and explore it with me on open circuit or CCR — one relaxed dive a day, no rushing, as long in the water as you like.
Want to dive Um El Faroud? Tell me your certification level and your dates, and I'll plan it with you. No pressure, no hard sell — just a good dive.