Zenobia

Name: Zenobia

Tonnage: 12000 brt.

Length: 172 meter

Width: 23 meter

Speed: 21 knots

Built: 1979 by Kockums - Malmø

Nationality: Swedish

Zenobia was a Swedish ro ro ferry, on her way from Istanbul to Libya loaded with trucks, she got problems with the stability just outside the cost of Cyprus. It was toed to the port of Larnaca were it floated for two days, before it sank. When the crew thought they had manage to fix the problem the ship fall over on the port side, the cargo followed and the ship went down. The ship was a roll-on roll-off ferry, it had two decks and could carry 140 passengers. It sank  02:30 am 7.of June 1980 proxy 1500 meters off shore. Zenobia rest at her port side on 42 meters (137 feet) it start at 18 meters (60 feet).

When you arrive Cyprus by plane you are able to see the wreck from the window. This is a fantastic wreck it has good visibility and nice warm waters. divers can hover at 25 meters and still see small items on the bottom then turn over and see what's happening at the surface. There is many different places to swim on Zenobia and you need at least three dives to see everything.

Zenobia is a safe wreck to penetrate if you are lucky to do and have the right gear. If you swim thru a door  in the bow you will enter the lorry deck where the trucks was parked. Here is it totally dark and it get a while before your eyes get used to the darkness, as you slowly decent down to the bottom which is full of trucks. The big dimensions inside the lorry deck gives you  a feeling of being inside a large cave.

After a while as you approach opening of the stern you can see the contours of the trucks in a blue magic light, witch gives you a magnificent feeling. On the outside you can still see the trucks and its cargo on the bottom, schools of barracuda usually gathering around the chimney. You can also se morays, octopuses and the most common fish on Senoia the grouper witch is a large sleepy fish. Zenobia is a very popular wreck in the Mediterranean, in the season there is hundreds of divers each day, maybe to much.

The bridge and the restaurant are nice places to penetrate. In the restaurant you can swim in and see the cafeteria and take a look at the coke machine witch makes you want to order something.

This is the ultimate wreck dive