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6 Km West Of Colombo
SL/W/COLO/M/17
MV Chief Dragon · Colombo Car Wreck
- Period
- Modern
- Year sunk
- 1983
- District
- Colombo
- Depth
- 20.00–32.00 m
- Vessel type
- Vehicle Carrier, Bulk Carrier
Overview
The wreck of the Chief Dragon Car carrier owned by Dragon Enterprises. The ship sank after catching fire on 13th of March 1983, and after being towed to the outer anchorage at Colombo Port where it sank. At present the wreck is largely intact, a thriving artificial coral reef and lies on seabed 32m deep.
After it sank in 1983, the Ports Authority of Colombo had to blow up the bridge and the upper levels to clear the port approaches of obstruction. This has resulted in a large debris field around the wreck, a hiding place for big Flower Groupers.
The ship is a popular spot for dive tourists because of the marine life. A large shoal of Blue-Striped Snappers can be seen there sheltering in the covered parts of the wreck. On deck, various species of hard and soft corals thrive. In addition deteriorated remains of vehicles can still be found on deck. There are some penetration points into the wreck, including to the engine room. The propeller has been illegally salvaged as of 2012 observations.
Media gallery
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Location
District: Colombo
Province: Western
Depth profile
20–32 m
Protection & status
- Access
- None
- Legal status
- None
- Archaeological value
- None
- Degradation
- Corrosion
- Threat
- Deterioration
Vessel chronology
1983
Year sunk
1977 – 1983
Time period estimate
References & publications
- Jayawadena, D. (2016) Ghosts of the Deep - Diving the shipwrecks of Sri Lanka, Vijitha Yapa Publications, Colombo, pp.82-90.
- ප්රියන්දන රුක්ෂාන් ඩබ්.එච් (2014) බස්නාහිර වෙරළ තීරයේ මුහුදු පුරාවිද්යා ගවේෂණ, දලනිඳු, විද්යුත් පුවත් සරණිය, වෙලුම 06, කාණ්ඩය 03, ජූලි - දෙසැම්බර් 2014, මුහුදු පුරාවිද්යා ඒකකය, මධ්යම සංස්කෘතික අරමුදල
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