The quaint fishing village of Bheemunipatnam, about 45 km from Visakhapatnam, may soon be the next big scuba diving destination of the country, following the rare discovery of a centuries old shipwreck. Located at a depth of just six metres below the sea surface, it was first spotted by scuba divers Balaram Naidu and dive master Anil Kumar on December 21.
The team made their second exploration to the wreck site on Monday and the recent findings have excited the scuba diving community. “Preliminary observations revealed the shipwreck site to be covered over a vast area. Our findings indicate the ship to be around 200 years old and measures as long as 150 metres. However, we are in the process of collaborating historical facts,” Balaram Naidu, director of Livein Adventures, a Visakhapatnam-based firm that conducts adventure sports, told The Hindu.
On Monday, the scuba diving team spotted parrot fish, yellow back snappers, sweet lips, ribbonfish, moray eel and lion fish among other rich aqua life surrounding the shipwreck.
According to experienced scuba divers, this is probably the only shipwreck site in the world located at such a shallow depth, making it accessible for even novice scuba divers and non-swimmers. “Most of the world’s famous shipwreck sites are located deep in the ocean bed where only experienced and certified scuba divers can go. This wreck site is different than the others in this sense and makes it highly accessible for anyone,” said Mr.Anil Kumar.
According to historian Edward Paul, the location of the shipwreck is said to be towards the north of Bheemunipatnam where ‘Santhapalli rocks’ exist, an area that has previous records of ships sinking due to its dangerously rocky sea bed. The British, later, built a light house at the Santhapalli coast in 1840.
The scuba diving team will be giving a presentation to the AP Tourism Authority to tap this huge potential of turning Visakhapatnam into a hot scuba diving destination. “We want to establish an international scuba diving academy in the city with infrastructure like swimming and diving pools and classrooms for training with the support of the State government. My ultimate goal is to mark Visakhapatnam in the global map of scuba diving,” said Mr Naidu.
