The fact of being able to explore a sunken ship is already something that attracts great attention. If, moreover, it is in the tenerife coasteven more, above all because, in the case at hand, it is a flotsam which allows a “moderate difficulty” dive but: how did this ship come to sink in the tenerife coast?
The story is curious, because it has nothing to do, luckily, with accidents or unfortunate situations. This ship is located on the coast of Tenerife because it was planned that way in order to improve the marine life in the area. That was the goal of sinking the rockwhich is what the boat is called.
In the summer of 2006, the 35-meter-long ship sank, listing 30 degrees to starboard with an approximate depth of 30 meters (at its deepest point). All kinds of polluting components were removed, including paint, in order to create an artificial reef with it, a common practice also in other areas of the world, in order to enrich marine life. In addition, the practice of diving in the area would be promoted.
The ship that sank twice off the coast of Tenerife
Curiously, El Peñón, the ship chosen to end up on the seabed off the coast of Tenerife, had already suffered a shipwreck, sinking in the 70s in the waters of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. On the afternoon of July 20, 1971, while taking part in the undocking maneuver of the British ocean liner “Canberra”, the tugboat “CEPSA Segundo” sank as a result of a false maneuver. The accident was witnessed by the numerous tourists who were crowded on the port side at that time.
The ship was refloated and continued in service, returning to service in the bay of Algeciras and in Santa Cruz de Tenerife until its definitive sinking in order to improve our seabed.