The Mikhail Lermontov

Always on the look out for new diving opportunities, imagine my surprise at finding a possible wreck dive in the straits between the North and South islands of New Zealand. I had never heard of the Mikhail Lermontov, but I booked myself a couple of dives and then decided that I needed to do my homework!

                             

This luxury passenger liner sank in 1986 in rather unusual circumstances. After ripping open it's hull on a reef, it began to quickly take on water and the captain decided to beach the vessel in the Marlborough Sounds at Port Gore. Contradictory accounts then say that electrical failures meant the vessel drifted back out into deeper waters and sank - others suggest that following rapid consultation with mother Russia, the captain was told not to beach and reversed the ship back into the deeper channel.

Despite sinking at night only one crew member died, though a number of elderly passengers were injured. A large scale rescue operation saw over 700 people successfully evacuated before the Lermontov sank. It now lies on its side at the bottom of a remote inlet. Salvage teams took out the oil and diesel, valuables and retrievable items, but it is now a recreational dive museum.

                              

GoDive specialise in diving the wreck and have built a modest guest lodge for those divers skilled and foolish enough to want to try. Three divers have lost theirs lives over the years, so it is a dive not to be taken lightly. I found the fact that two bodies have never been recovered from the wreck quite sobering too.

                                              

Brent junior picked me up from Picton after the Interislander ferry had transported me across the straits from Wellington in stormy waters. We then drove for over three hours around the amazing fjord-like land which makes up the coastal region of the Marlborough Sounds - absolutely stunning views. My companions for the next 36 hours were two Germans, Andreas and Martina, and we were soon travelling along mountain tracks before we finally reached the top of the pass and the descent to our base camp.

    

                                                      

Once we had arrived at the lodge, we were introduced to a group of 6 other divers and instructors, who would  be diving the wreck the next day with us. They were all extremely hyper when we arrived, partly due to the fact that they had been at the lodge for two days without any communication with the outside world and were suffering from a degree of cabin fever, but mainly because they had just had the dive of their lives that morning and couldn't wait to tell someone about it. Apparently, as they were down on the exterior of the Lermontov, they were joined by a curious and playful killer whale. Two of the divers were terrified and immediately forgot how to scuba (and had to be reassured and stopped from bolting to the surface) two were nervous and hung back to see what was happening and Brent Senior approached the orca and sang to it! He then proceeded to do a horizontal roll, which the orca copied and an underwater tumble, which she again copied. He gauged her to be an adolescent female measuring about 8 metres in length. For 20 minutes she swam with and around the divers before approaching each one individually and looking them in the face from a distance of 5 feet, for about 30 seconds each person. Then she swam away. Needless to say all the divers were ecstatic, relieved and amazed. They captured it all on video using a GoPro camera, so we got to see the footage of the interaction. I can tell you that my degree of jealousy was huge. We all knew this was unusual orca behaviour and rare, but it took Brent Senior to sum it up "a once in a lifetime diving experience" he said - and he has been diving for more than 30 years.

                                

That night, after an excellent tea of steak, salad and mussels, the three of us watched a video about the initial salvage work on the Lermontov after it sank and then familiarised ourselves with the ship, looking at plans, photos and artefacts. We discussed the sea conditions, probable visibility and dive goals for the day ahead and then went to bed feeling both excited and a little scared.

    

       

                                                        

       

The Lermontov is lying on her side, as depicted in the model above. At her deepest point she is some 39 metres (120 feet) below sea level and at her most shallow, she is 17 metres down. We had two dive plans. Dive one would take us down the anchor line and onto the exterior of the hull near the front of the ship. We would then swim the length of the vessel towards the stern. At the back we would enter into the swimming pool area before exiting onto the Winter Garden exterior companionway. When we reached the funnel we would check our air supply and make our way to the wheel house. The whole time, Brent would be assessing our relative dive strengths and abilities and we would become orientated with the wreck. We would then surface and have a break on a nearby beach, drinking hot tea, eating biscuits and dozing in the sunshine whilst we allowed nitrogen levels in our bodies to decrease. 

Whilst dive one was a reconnoissance dive, dive two would see us entering the ship - 'recreational penetration of the hull' as Brent junior defined it (I don't know if he was aware of how that term could be construed!) We would again follow the anchor line, head back to the stern and then enter the ship through the pool stopping at the bar for a cocktail, before entering the inner passageways. We would swim along a deck using our torches to navigate, pass the cinema/theatre, cabins and stairwells before  changing levels and exiting at the main funnel. We would then swim the exterior of the funnel and the crow's nest (antenna mast) before returning to the wheel house. 

The following underwater pictures are taken from various sources and are not my own, but they document the trip step by step. We began at first light with overcast skies, but by our second dive the sun had come out and it was much warmer and brighter.

                             

                                  Heading out to the dive site, marked by a buoy to the right

    

             Descending to the the exterior of the hull and following a row of rectangular windows

       

 

                          

                        Up the antenna mast (crow's nest) approaching the front of the wreck

       

              I followed Brent up this exact corridor and my view was identical (a diver and a torch)

       

           The bar - everything was at 90 degrees to the vertical, but we stopped at the bar stools 

                       and we 'drank' from a bottle that has been down there nearly 30 years!

       

       

       

                                                                 A carpet shark

Both dives went perfectly according to plan. Each lasted about 45 minutes. At my deepest I was 28 metres below the surface. I saw a few carpet sharks as well as plenty of fish life who have been making this wreck their home. The water temperature was 16 degrees, so we were wearing thick 7mm wetsuits, boots, hoods and gloves. We took powerful torches for the internal elements of the dive and we had checked and double checked our exact dive plans, vessel orientation and all pertinent signals and actions in the event of an emergency. 

Whilst I didn't see an orca, I did have a most excellent dive, particularly the penetration dive. I was definitely quite scared in this most eerie of environments. The Lermontov is a silent graveyard of a ship with the only sound I could hear being that of my own breathing. There were shadows everywhere, the sudden movements of fish and the billowing of curtains and materials on the wreck. When we disturbed the silt and sediment with our fin kicks, things became gloomy and even more eerie so it was with a sense of relief that we exited into the open water.

                            

               Port Gore - the Lermontov is 39 metres down at the far right and around the corner

                            

         

                         One of the surviving life boats, now stationed in Picton as a reminder

If you want to see more about this ship, I found an interesting documentary on Youtube which may be of interest (see the link below) - or look up: 'Destination Disaster - the final voyage of the Mikhail Lermontov' or 'The Lermontov Sinking 01'

                                                       http://youtu.be/G_c2yV8GF38

Or you could check out this 8 minute video from a diver who returned an item to the wreck which had been removed two years earlier. Very well made documentary.

 

                                                       http://youtu.be/_lMH7SDh67c

My thanks got to Brent Junior - who was an excellent dive master, buddy and guide and to my two diving companions - Andreas and Martina. Many thanks to GoDive - a very professional organisation. I will never forget diving the Lermontov.

Paul