Into the blue
For a trip with a difference, how about a submarine cruise out of Larnaca marina to the shipwrecked Zenobia?
It’s just like a plane, I told my younger son, but instead of going up it goes down. Actually it was more like a coach, but still he wasn’t interested in joining us on a submarine trip. Yes, a submarine in Cyprus.
Behind one of the men sitting on Larnaca marina haranguing passers-by to take a trip on their boat is a small, hand-written sign that advertises submarine trips. Closer inspection of the posters he sits next to reveals pictures of a brightly coloured submarine (yellow in part). It was from here that our trip started.
The MV Pirate is one of the nicer boats in Larnaca marina – complete with seat belts – and offered such a smooth ride I didn’t even feel seasick. It also had a pirate flag, a touch my braver, older son was impressed with. As we sped out to sea and the hotels of Larnaca faded into the distance we turned around to spot the submarine bobbing in front of us.
We slowly drifted up next to it and a bridge was lowered for us to walk on to the sub’s flat, upper surface. No time for second thoughts, it was down a step ladder into the depths of the sub, essentially a collection of portholes in front of which chairs were lined up, but instead of facing forward as they would on a coach, they were turned outwards.
I sat down and was faced with a pale blue window. It was impossible to tell what it was. A blind? A blue window? It was also impossible to gauge how far away the blue was, as it was so uniform (a bit like trying to touch the sky). Then it dawned on me. I peered closer to the window and looked up – it was the sea and I could see the surface from underneath – weird. The blue of the sea also gave everything inside the sub a strange hue, we looked a bit blue round the gills and my red top came out navy on a photograph.
At this point, because we are Cypriots, the photographer and I reached for our mobile phones and, impressed that 3m below the surface there was a signal, proceeded to call our spouses to tell them where we were.
The 30m long Sadko is one of only about 20 tourist submarines currently operating around the world and the only one in the eastern Mediterranean. Inside there is plenty of space for 40 passengers to see through the 23 portholes. Although we only went down to a depth of 42m, the sub is capable of going down to 100m while cruising at a speed of three knots.
Andreas Panayiotou of the sub’s operators, Larnaca Napa Sea Cruises, reassured that the sub is safe and is licensed by both the shipping department and the marine police. When underwater, the Sadko is always in radio contact with a surface escort boat that also makes sure there are no vessels over the submarine. It is also equipped with air conditioning, an oxygen generator and fire fighting devices. It is electronically driven and does not cause harm to either flora or fauna, according to the operators. On with the cruise then with peace of mind.
All aboard and the sub set off without any of the chugging you experience on a plane or a boat. The only way it was possible to tell we were moving was because the sub pointed downwards. After a few minutes gazing out at the blue and starting to get anxious as I watched the sea’s surface get further away, there were cries from people sitting on the other side. We had travelled down 16m and arrived at the Zenobia shipwreck. Here too there were plenty of fish – on the way down and up there is really little else to see apart from the sea.
Suddenly, we were faced with the eerie spectacle of a seaweed-covered ship lying on its side at the bottom of the sea. The sub slowly made its way past the decks where trucks would have parked, the bridge where the captain would have stood, stairwells and even the anchor. It was difficult to judge exactly what we were seeing as the sub almost sat within the wreck.
All of sudden we were also bombarded by the sight of fish – groupers, barracudas and sea bream. Perhaps they find food around the wreck, I wondered, only to find my thoughts interrupted by the site of a diver waving at the window, much to the delight of the kids on board. Closer inspection revealed he was holding a small plastic bag of fish food.
After circling the wreck at this depth so people on all sides could see, the sub moved to the wreck’s front end at a depth of 42 metres. The sub then took a short spin along the sea bed although the only thing of note we saw was an octopus.
With all the sites seen, it was time to visit the pilot (that’s what it said on the door) of the sub, whose cabin is much like those of an airplane – with lots of dials and a small window at the front. The eager fingers of the two small children I was with prevented me from having much of a look though.
The Sadko is chartered from a company in Russia and has been operating trips out of Larnaca marina for over five years. “It took a couple of years for people to get used to the idea but now it is very popular,” Panayiotou said. Sadko was built in 1997 and the standard operating life for this type of submarine is 20 years. It was designed by the Saint Petersburg Central Bureau for Marine Engineering, which has celebrated over 100years and given life to more than 1,000 submarines.
Back to the chairs and it was time to go back up, again an incredibly smooth ride and it was only due to slight ear popping that I realised we had got back to the surface. Back up the ladder (don’t wear a skirt) and we were beside the MV Pirate again and it was a question of treading carefully over the wet surface of the sub to reboard the boat.
With the wind in our hair it was just a ten-minute ride back to the marina. I was enthralled by the trip, so much so that I had little time to dwell on my fear of being under the water, but what of the other passengers? “Excellent, I enjoyed it thoroughly,” said Billy Cameron of Scotland. “It’s my first time ever under water, I can’t even swim,” he added. “It was great value for money and I would do it again,” added his wife Sheila. “We even bought the DVD.”
Tamar Pasztor from Hungary was equally impressed “Yeah I liked it, I would definitely do it again.” Me too.
The Sadko submarine is operated by Larnaca Napa Sea Cruises. Tel: 24 656949. email: [email protected], www.zenobiadive.com. Price: £37 for adults and £25 for children if they need a seat. Pick up available from all towns. Cruises operate three times a day, four days a week.
WHAT A WRECK
The shipwreck site of the MV Zenobia that sunk in 1980 is rated among the top ten in the world.
Called the Titanic of the Mediterranean becasue it sank on its maiden voyage, the 12,000 ton Swedish-made Zenobia left her mooring in Malmo, Sweden on May 4, 1980 destined for Syria. It was loaded with 104 lorries and trailers with foodstuff. The boat passed Gibralta on May 22 and her first port of call was Heraklion in Crete. After two days in moorings there, she moved on for Piraeus.
Midway between Crete and Piraeus, the boat started to list to the port side. A check discovered a malfunction in the pumps controlling the water ballast system. After four days of repairs in Piraeus the ship headed for Syria but it some became obvious that the computer controlling the water pumps had failed and the ship started listing further.
On June 3, the Zenobia moved towards the harbour at Larnaca where the tilt became very dangerous and to avoid any possible collisions it was towed 2,000m off shore. Over the following three days the ship took on more water and began to sink. All members of the crew were taken to shore on lifeboats.
SUBMARINES IN HISTORY
The first military submarine was Turtle, a hand-powered egg-shaped device designed by the American David Bushnell to accommodate a single m
an. It was the first verified submarine capable of independent underwater operation and movement and the first to use screws for propulsion. During the American Revolutionary War, Turtle (operated by Sgt. Ezra Lee) tried and failed to sink a British warship, HMS Eagle in New York harbour.
The first time military submarines had significant impact on a war was in WWI. Forces such as the U-boats of Germany saw action in the First Battle of the Atlantic. The U-boats’ ability to function as practical war machines relied on new tactics, their numbers, and submarine technologies such as combination diesel/electric power system. More like submersible ships than the submarines of today, U-boats operated primarily on the surface using regular engines, submerging occasionally to attack under battery power.
In the 1950s, nuclear power partially replaced diesel-electric propulsion. Equipment was also developed to extract oxygen from sea water. These two innovations gave submarines the ability to remain submerged for weeks or months, and enabled previously impossible voyages such as USS Nautilus’ crossing of the North pole beneath the Arctic ice cap in 1958. Most of the naval submarines built since that time in the United States and the Soviet Union/Russia have been powered by nuclear reactors. The limiting factors in submerged endurance for these vessels are food supply and crew morale in the space-limited submarine.
Since the year 2000 there have been nine major naval incidents involving submarines. There were three Russian submarine incidents, in two of which the submarines in question were lost, along with three United States submarine incidents, one Chinese incident, one Canadian, and one Australian incident. In August 2005, the Russian PRIZ, an AS-28 rescue submarine was trapped by cables and/or nets off of Petropavlovsk, and saved when a British ROV cut them free in a massive international effort.
A genre of submarine movies has developed. Submarines are popular subjects for films due to the danger, drama and claustrophobia of being on a submarine, and the suspense of the cat-and-mouse game of submarine or anti-submarine warfare. These movies include The Hunt for Red October, Das Boot, U-571, Crimson Tide and The Enemy Below. K-19: The Widowmaker is about the first of many disasters that befell the Soviet submarine K-19.
The S2 300 submersible is a leisure submarine, ideal for underwater filming and pleasure activities in shallow water. It has exceptional 360-degree viewing through an acrylic hull. It can be yours for as little as $199,000 for a fully reconditioned dive ready three submarine. Sizes ranging from two person to seven person custom build are also available.
In 1968, at the height of their popularity, the Beatles made The Yellow Submarine, a cartoon of a land that is taken over by the Blue Meanies. They are recruited by an escapee to come and bring joy (and music) back to the land. The techniques are quite psychedelic in the cartoons and much care was taken to have the walks and mannerisms of the individual Beatles cartoons match the originals. All four starred as themselves.
