“Underwater Military Museum” might be laying it on a little thick for a Short Skyvan prop plane and seven MAN Atlas trucks, but that is the title of a new underwater diving attraction now being created in Oman’s Daymaniyat Islands Nature Reserve.
The sultanate's Environment Authority and Ministry of Defence have been collaborating on the project to place decommissioned military equipment close to existing coral reefs, hoping to help accelerate reef growth and proliferation of marine life in the area and, in the process, provide a boost for tourism.
The Short SC.7 Skyvan, nicknamed the “Flying Shoebox” when it was introduced in the late 1950/60s, was a small twin-turboprop transporter, and the German MAN Atlas light commercial vehicles first appeared at around the same time.
The Daymaniyat Islands Nature Reserve lies about 18km out in the Arabian Sea from Barka in the Muscat governorate and is centred around nine small islands.
Coral reefs featuring more than 100 species of hard and soft coral are said to cover some two-thirds of the reserve's dive-sites. Most often visited by day-boats, the area is already on the itinerary of scuba divers as well as being popular with artisanal fishers.
The hardware was sunk recently and the Underwater Military Museum is due to open to divers officially this July.
Oman’s Environment Authority says it expects the project to help ease human pressure on reefs within the nature reserve, and is looking forward to “witnessing coral reefs flourish within the next six months”.
A number of Middle Eastern countries have taken to deliberately sinking superannuated military hardware and/or aircraft as artificial reefs to help attract more diving tourists (see below).
Also on Divernet: Military hardware sunk for divers in Aqaba, Hurghada scraps military vehicles to divert divers, A haven for hardware, ‘Aimed’ tanks sunk to create Lebanon reef, Airliner-reef race hots up in Turkey, Jumbo-sized: the plane in Bahrain
Zal voor duikers een compleet andere geluidsbeleving zijn, dan ooit voor vlieger en passagiers in dit type toestel. Heb vijf jaar lang op wekelijkse basis “mogen” genieten van de helse propgeluiden. Weliswaar met hoorbescherming. Gelukkig bestaan alleen de foto’s nog!
I really wish that Governments would NOT dump old aircraft and trucks etc in the sea to form artificial reefs. I cannot see the point of diving on a heap of junk deliberately dumped on the seabed. I understand the possibility of marine life eventually inhabiting an “artificial” reef, but to dive on it …………… ? Bearing in mind the eye watering costs involved in diving with a Dive Centre abroad, I would feel very cheated if I was told that I will be diving on a dumped aircraft or a truck. I might as well swim about the bottom of my local swimming pool.