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6 Km West Of Dehiwela/Wallawatta

SL/W/COLO/M/10

Pecheur Breton · Colombo Cargo Wreck

Year sunk
1994
District
Colombo
Depth
18.00–32.00 m
Vessel type
Reefer/Transport Cargo Ship, Bulk Carrier

Overview

Sank on 1st of July 1994, enroute to a Indian scrap yard, on her final journey. The ship is deteriorating very slowly but the overall ship shape is still retained. The wreck lies on its starboard side. The hull, around the keel, has collapsed opening up the wreck further and making it safe for penetration within the natural light zone. The wreck is 88m long, 12.5 wide at beam and had a draft of 4m. Gross Tonnage is 1,827. 

This is the most popular wreck for recreational divers in Sri Lanka and foriegn marine dive tourists. Marine life can be prolific with large baitballs, big Bull Rays, Eagle Rays, Dolphins and Whale Sharks putting up an appearence on occassion. A school of Neon Fusiliers are ever present atop the bridge area. At dusk, large numbers of stingrays can settle around the wreck. A large resident Flower Grouper (known as 'Big G') can be seen occassionally but are terrified of divers as local SCUBA spearfishermen fish here illiegally using spear guns (banned by law)

Other features are, Single screw propeller, spare propeller on deck, two main masts, 

A diver at the bow 12 Apr 2013 © Dharshana Jayawardena/Ghosts of the Deep - Diving the Shipwrecks of SL
The Bridge 19 Jan 2011 © Dharshana Jayawardena/Ghosts of the Deep - Diving the Shipwrecks of SL
Stern 31 Jan 2010 © Dharshana Jayawardena/Ghosts of the Deep - Diving the Shipwrecks of SL
Life boats of the Ship 3 Feb 2018 © Rasika Muthucumarana
The ship before the disaster
Video 20 Feb 2019 © Rasika Muthucumarana

Location

District: Colombo

Province: Western

Depth profile

18–32 m

Protection & status

Access
None
Legal status
None

Vessel chronology

1994

Year sunk

1961 – 1994

Time period estimate

References & publications

  • Jayawadena, D. (2016) Ghosts of the Deep - Diving the shipwrecks of Sri Lanka, Vijitha Yapa Publications, Colombo, pp.27-34, 292-295.
  • 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

Record provenance

Recorded
2006-09-09
Last updated
2021-05-24
Biodiversity survey
Incomplete

Data: National Shipwreck Database / CCF–MAU