History of MS Zenobia

MS Zenobia was a Swedish built RO-RO ferry launched in 1979 that capsized and sank in the Mediterranean sea, close to Larnaca, Cyprus, on the 7th of June 1980 on her maiden voyage. She now rests on her port side in approximately 42 meters (138 ft) of depth and it is known as one of the top ten wreck diving sites in the world!

She left Malmö, Sweden on her maiden voyage, bound for Tartous, Syria loaded with 104 tractor-trailers with cargo. She arrived at Larnaca on the 2nd of June 1980, where a problem occurred in the ballast tanks caused by excess water pumping in. On the 4th of June, MS Zenobia was towed out of Larnaca harbor to prevent her becoming an obstruction inside the harbour and was left at anchor roughly 1.5 -2 km offshore. The next day with the vessel listing at around 45°, the captain commanded his crew to abandon the ship.

At around 2:30am 7 June 1980, MS Zenobia capsized and sank in Larnaca Bay, near the port, to a depth of roughly 42 meters (138 ft), taking her estimated £200 million worth of cargo with her. There were no casualties in the disaster. 

Wreck Diving

The wreck is consistently ranked as one of the top 10 recreational dive sites worldwide.

With 172 meters of length and 24 meters of width it is also the biggest wreck in the Mediterranean Sea. It is suitable for qualified Advanced Scuba Divers, since the shallowest deck lies at 18m of depth and at approximately 30m there are many tractor-trailers & cars. During your dive you can spot many big groupers, turtles, big schools of sea breams- barracudas-amberjacks, lionfish, moray eels, octopus.

It is also suitable for Wreck Divers & Technical Divers as the size of the wreck is enormous with many entry-exit points, such as the engine room, the cabins, the bar, and the garages.