Situated about 10 miles from Hikkaduwa on the southwest coast of Sri Lanka, the wreck of the early steam powered oil tanker “Conch” was recommended to me by local divers as the best wreck dive in the area.
On 3 June 1903 the 3555-ton Conch struck Akarta rock off the SriLankan coast. Just to confuse things, local divers refer to this rock as Passi rock. The Conch went down resting against the rock, spilling oil and becoming Sri Lanka's first oil tanker wreck.
Propeller. Link to copyright statement. 01_27_01_small.jpgFollowing the line down I hit the sand at 20 metres right next to the propeller. Visibility was a grainy 20 metres, nothing spectacular for tropical waters, but plenty good enough to enjoy the wreck.
A big V section of keel and stern is lying on its port side. I line up a few shots of the half buried propeller. I duck inside the stern section and pierce through a tightly packed shoal of glassfish for a brief swim along the propshaft to the engine. Like modern ships, the engine room of the Conch was at the stern, generally a configuration reserved for oil tankers until the latter half of the 20th century.
The engine room is completely broken open. The 3 cylinder 324 horsepower steam engine lies broken but recognisably laid out on one side, like it has been carefully dissected and pinned out in a biology class. Crankshaft, rods and pistons almost connecting.
Across a tangle of lattices and pipes, slightly higher on the reef, a trio of boilers rests awry, well away from their original configuration.
Inside an oil tank. Link to copyright statement. 01_27_18_small.jpgWith the engine room at the stern of the ship, everything further forward was oil tank. There may have once been an amidships superstructure and wheelhouse, but it would most likely have been of wooden construction and there is no sign of it now.
I pass a moderate spread of devastation before encountering a reasonably intact and completely upside down section of hull. The way inside is between the ribs of a bulkhead, the lighter steel panels of the bulkhead having rusted to dust. A small group of what looks from a distance like red snapper retreat beneath a plate off to one side. I have time for a few shots looking along the oil tank through undisturbed water before our guide and the rest of the group joins me.
I float gently through the 10 metre long steel cave, sculling my fins from side to side to avoid disturbing the visibility. Extricating myself through the bulkhead at the other end, I turn and wait to catch the rest of the group exiting on film.
Diver exiting oil tank. Link to copyright statement. 01_28_07_small.jpgForward is more devastation, with the main area of wreckage skewed slightly to my left. Nearing the bows I can pick out recognisable features amongst miscellaneous plates and girders. A cargo winch, a mast foot then a much larger anchor winch. A pile of chain has mostly rusted through to leave a jumble of fragile looking links.
The depth here is a mere 5 metres and the surge from the Indian Ocean is noticeable. I am careful to hover neutrally buoyant away from sharp edges of wreckage.
Right at the bows the structure of the Conch has collapsed flat on its port side. A pair of anchors, still in their steel hawse pipes, marks the end of the wreckage.
As I zig-zag back a short way, using up my remaining air, I take a bit more notice of the marine life. Whilst there is no real reef, small clumps of thorny corals are well established across the wreckage. Twitching shells indicate hermit crabs tucking into their homes as I pass.
There is a fair range of reef fish, including all the usual wrasse, moorish idols, bannerfish and damselfish. Not as many as on some of the reef dives I had made further north in Sri Lanka, but enough to add some colour to the wreck.
