Lying beautifully on the east coast of Malaysia, Igara wreck dive site is perfect for every advanced divers. But this wreck site is not only aesthetically superb, behind this sunken beauty also lies great mysteries that makes it even more unique among other dive sites.
The mystery of the Igara wreck
The Igara ship was an Italian ore carrier which sunk in March 1973. It struck an uncharted rock in the South China Sea until it was completely sunk into the 40 meter deep ocean. It is also shown that it costs $25 million and it was the biggest maritime loss in the history for it only lived for one year before it sunk. The ship has a length of 297.3 meters and was named “Turtle Wreck” by some divers.
Do you know that the stern section of the ship was used in building a new ship in Japan? It was named the Eraclide. The stern section of the Igara remained afloat despite the sinking and salvors used explosives to break away the entire section which include the engine room and superstructure at Hold 1. Way back in 2005, the right of the wreck from the insurers was bought by a salvage company and salvaged half the cargo of the iron ore and cut off the hatch doors and used vaccums to sunk the ore.[/one_second]
Igara’s visibility and depth
Experienced divers will be enthralled with this dive destination because of its average depth of 14 to 40 meters. Regardless only half the wreck is remaining, the huge wreck amazingly stands with its vast open cargo holds. Be careful as the current is prone to be strong around the area and the visibility is occasionally bad.
Beautiful marine creatures
The ship is now a habitat of the beautiful sea creatures. The Igara wreck itself is surrounded with lots of breathtaking soft corals and sponges. There are also group of nurse sharks that will welcome divers in the storage room of the stern. Aside from this, it is also a home for the amazing schools of fishes such as Barracudas, Snappers, Groupers, and Batfish. The site was once named by divers as Turtle Neck for it was then reported that turtles were also a resident in the area. Divers will also be mesmerized as the ship is also overgrown with hydroids as Fusiliers and Angelfish swim along the area.
Go deeper, explore what it offers and catch the beauty of Igara wreck dive site underwater!