The MV Polynesian built in 1890 and owned by Messageries Maritimes was transporting troops when it was torpedoed in Maltese waters by a UC22 submarine during the World War 1.
The wreck now sits in at a depth of 65 meters. The 152.54 meter vessel is a fascinating wreck site and still in fairly good condition considering that it has a timber deck. As a dive site The Polynesian has lured both local and foreign divers to its depths for the past years - locally the wreck is known as "Tal-Platti" or "The Plates Ship" since the largest of its cargo at the time of sinking was different of, crockery, personal ceramic ware such as potties and wash basins and other items such as wine and champagne bottles, motor bikers, spare tires, soldier's boots, one can also come across the ceiling fans from the dining area of the ship and bath tubs.
In this day and age only a few items remain from the large quantities I saw on my first dive to the site, some 7 years ago.
A couple of Saturday's ago I joined a charter that was planning a dive to the site - the boat was leaving at 0800 am from St Thomas Bay in Marsascala, the journey would take a few minutes, so i made sure that all my equipment was ready and tested the night before. When I woke up to a cold breeze I immediately thought that maybe the wind had picked up and the sea wouldn't be as calm as forecasted .... but i was wrong at 0530 when i got out of bed i could see the flat calm sea outside my balcony. After one mug of coffee and some cereal I got to my car and started the 45 minute drive to Marsascala at around 0630 to get there in time and sort myself out calmly.
When I arrived at the small jetty I met some of the divers that normally sign on these technical dive charters all of which open circuit divers. Looks like I'm the only rebreather diver on board ... not a problem! I loaded my unit and bail out tanks and made sure that the rebreather was secured in place and returned to my car to don my under-suit and semi dry. The view of the bay was fantastic - the sea remained flat calm and the sky cloudless just how i like it. Since the sun wouldn't have completely risen at this hour 60 meters below the surface would still be pretty dark, a clearer sky is an advantage at this time of day.
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| The Odalisque and some of the divers already on board |
Once everybody was aboard the boat and all equipment in place we made our way to the site of the Polynesian, and within minutes the skipper informed us that we were on site and the shot rope was in place. With minor difficulty I donned my unit and two bailout tanks - why the difficulty? I'm too short for the boat so I cant reach the edge from a standing position, I have to stand on somebody else's tank to get myself into sitting position for a roll-over jump. Safely in the water I was waiting for my dive buddy, once he was in and close to the shot we performed a bubble check at 4 meters and made our way down the line. For no reason was I going to let go the shot on this dive - last time I did I was swept away by the current and lost my position and dive team. This time I managed to perform my 2 minute descent and reach the wreck without difficulty and with excellent visual and mental visibility since I was breathing Trimix. My buddy and I found our bearings on the wreck and swam down to the sandy bottom to check out a few artefacts which lay idle on the sand, we proceeded to swim towards one of the holds and signalled that we would be penetrating the wreck.
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| One of the Holds |
I was very excited as this was the first wreck dive I was doing with my new lights I proceeded to followed my buddy who was leading, down the hold and through a small opening on the left ... I clearly remember this part of the wreck as being littered with artefacts when I started diving this site, today one can barely find or see anything - except for a couple of windowless portholes lying in the silt and some broken pieces of crockery. After a few moments we turn back towards the entrance and made our way out to explore the deck and locate the shot rope - 15 minutes into the dive we are still swimming along the deck and spotting other divers approaching the shot rope or swimming around - we also encounter a lone grouper but I only catch a glimpse of the huge fish's tail as it swam into the wreck - it must have been scared from the diver bubbles.
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| View of parts of the Deck |
20 minutes into the dive we are making our way to the line to start our ascent with around 35 minutes of deco. The current at this site is always present and today it’s slightly stronger than usual so I make sure I have a good hold of the rope on my way up while I secure my torch and turn off my back up light. I check my computers and mentally prepare for the decompression ahead. I’m already feeling the chill and know that once we reach shallower depths the water will be warmer and I can relax.
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| Deck |
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| Broken Mast sitting on the sandy bottom |
Deco and safety stop over I surface while most of the other divers including my buddy are on the line finishing off their obligation. After I hand over my bailout tanks to the skipper I swam to the back of the Odalisque, at this point I'm excited because I'm trying out the new lift for the first time, on previous occasions I dived off this boat the lift wasn't installed and I had to negotiate my way up the ladder (not a pretty sight). I'm happy there is nobody at the surface to see me, it's normal for me to make some sort of blunder on such occasions ... I follow the skipper's instructions, 1) put your feet on the foot rests at the bottom of the panel & 2) hold on to the stainless steel handles that run down the side. I did as instructed! Assuming I'm going to be pulled up vertically but I was surprised to find myself lying on all fours on a platform instead .... hmmm me and my assumptions ... I crawl off the platform like a turtle and with some muscle from the skipper get myself on the boat - I'm sure the guys don’t end up on all fours - I have to see how they do it ...
On the Odalisque I quickly sort all my kit, secure the unit to the boat and decide to jump back in the water with my semi dry zip undone - I desperately need to rinse my body and my suit - I have to confess - Yes - I - Peed - In - My - Suit ... I was too cold during deco and was shivering .... the only way to warm up was to relieve myself... It's terrible I know but a warm diver is a happy diver :) once the rest of the divers started surfacing it transpired that one of them had over 40 minutes of deco left, something wrong with his computer .... we were told. We had to wait for the chap to surface before we made our way back to the small bay. Dreaming of cold drinks and Hobz biz-Zejt (a typical Maltrese hard bread stuffed with fresh tomatoes, tuna, olives, capers and a generous serving of olive oil).
Back on land we found a very busy jetty with most of the fishermen and boat owners hustling to bring their boats ashore since the wind was changing and it would be dangerous to leave their boats in the water. With the urgency of their actions one would think that the winds where changing within seconds not hours ... All sorted and the skipper paid .... some of us headed off to the coffee shop for a deserved drink and Hobza ... I make up my mind and order an egg and bacon roll its only around 1030 so it still counts as breakfast ... over at the table we are already planning our next dive.
Further information on Le Polynesian can be found: http://www.messageries-maritimes.org/polynes.htm
Underwater Photos: courtesy of John Wood http://woody.smugmug.com/Underwater/Wrecks/Le-Polynesien/697692_j72Pbg#27985329_9BgyL
Characteristics:
- Mail Steamer
- Length: 152.54 meters
- Width: 15.08 m
- Gross tonnage: 6659 tx
- Deadweight: 5060 tons
- Displacement: 10,300 tons
- Passengers: 172 first, 71 seconds, 109 third, 234 ration
- Propulsion: a steam engine alternative triple expansion heated by coal-fired boilers 12 Belleville-type
- Power: 7500 hp
- Speed: 17.5 knots
- A four-blade propeller
