Dive Industry of Victoria Association Inc

Ex-HMAS Canberra

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The ex HMAS Canberra is scuttled off shores east of Barwon Heads on Sunday 4 October 2009 at approximately 2:00pm.

You can see it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gQnxkHmhlI

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DIVERS TO MARVEL AT EX-HMAS CANBERRA IN DAYS

From the Minister for Tourism and Major Events

Thursday, 03 December 2009

The ex-HMAS Canberra will become Victoria’s newest tourist attraction this Saturday when it is opened for the first time to dive operators and recreational divers.

A final safety inspection and dives with tour operators were completed today by Parks Victoria and the site has the all clear to open this weekend.

Tourism and Major Events Minister Tim Holding said Victoria’s spectacular new diving attraction is now settled and ready to welcome divers from around the world.

“Since its scuttling, the vessel has adapted to its new underwater home and a number of safety inspections and familiarisation dives have been done to confirm that it is safe and suitable for diving and I joined one of these dives on Wednesday 28 October,” Mr Holding said.

“The creation of this fantastic new attraction has taken several years to complete and we are delighted that regional Victoria will now reap the rewards.

“Lying in approximately 28 metres of water, with the top of the mast about seven metres below the surface at low tide, the ex-HMAS Canberra vessel will provide spectacular diving year round.”

Mr Holding said the ex-HMAS Canberra offers one of the most interesting dive experiences in the world, as unlike most shipwrecks, many of the vessel’s original fixtures have been preserved for divers to discover.

“Divers will have the opportunity to explore a large portion of the ship including flight decks, the bridge, engine rooms, the galley and the accommodation quarters,” he said.

“The dive site offers a unique experience which will only get better with time as sea life develops in and around the wreck.

“The ex-HMAS Canberra will provide a windfall for Victoria’s tourism industry; with visitors to the dive site staying on and discovering the many other attractions along the Great Ocean Road.”

The Brumby Labor Government provided $1.5 million towards the creation of the dive site.

An online booking system for moorings at the site is now open. Parks Victoria requires divers to be qualified and reminds all divers they are responsible for ensuring conditions are safe for diving. Forecast conditions look unsuitable for diving on Saturday but may improve Sunday.

Divers can book a dive tour with a licensed tour operator or book a two hour mooring through Parks Victoria in order to access the site.

A mooring will cost $30 per boat regardless of the number of divers on board – the money raised will contribute to some of the costs of managing the site.

For more information on the new dive site’s arrangements and to make a booking visit www.parkweb.vic.gov.au

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For a number of years DIVA has been searching for suitable ships to sink as artificial reefs.

Ideally we would like to have additional wreck sites both within the bay and in our traditional wreck area towards Barwon Heads.

Around four years ago DIVA in conjunction with SDFV formed the Victorian Artificial Reef Society to act as a joint representative of scuba diving in Victoria to secure and scuttle the HMAS Canberra as an artificial reef and dive site. The move was very positive and the HMAS Canberra was eventually gifted to the Victorian State Government to sink as a dive site.

After an exhaustive 3 year long process of preparing the wreck as a suitable dive site and locating the best position to sink the ship we are now about to realise the dream of having a new warship to dive on.

The HMAS Canberra will be scuttled in Bass Strait near some of our famous WWI Submarines The agreed site is approximately 1,480 metres (0.8 nautical miles) WNW of the J4 submarine. The depth will be around 30 metres (98 feet) with the main deck at 18 metres (59 feet) metres. The combination of the location of the proposed scuttle site, which will have easy access for dive boats out of Portsea and Queenscliffe and the diver friendly depth range of 5 – 30 metres will ensure that the HMAS Canberra will be accessible to all appropriately qualified and certified divers and DIVA is excited about the positive impact this new dive site will have for both local and visiting divers.

Above is a diagram which shows how the HMAS Canberra will look once it is on the bottom:

Even though we have been successful in securing this fine new dive site for divers visiting Victoria DIVA will continue to search for more suitable ships for scuttling in the future and the hunt is now on to locate more suitable ships and other structures to sink both in Port Phillip Bay and in Bass Strait.

All Victorian and visiting divers will be able to dive the HMAS Canberra soon and we look forward to having the ship ready to dive sometime in early October, 2009.

For more information about how to dive the HMAS Canberra please contact your local DIVA member. All of the contact details of our members are listed on our Members page on this website.