Launched 1985 | Tonnage 30,000 DWT Length 168 m | |
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Owner Seawall Shipping Corporation Operator The Eastern Shipping Co. Ltd, Identification Official Number 8307521 Fate Struck a reef and sank 14 February 1991 Builder Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. | ||
Diving the sanko harvest wreck off esperance wa january 2017
Sanko Harvest was a 30,000 DWT bulk carrier that sank near Esperance, Western Australia after striking a reef there on 14 February 1991. The Japanese owned ship was 174 metres (571 ft) long and was carrying a cargo of 30,000 tonnes of fertilizer. Also on board was 570 tonnes of bunker fuel and 74 tonnes of diesel fuel.
Contents
The wreck site is the second largest wreck dive in the world and the largest off the Australian coast.
Sanko harvest dive
Sinking
Sanko Harvest was traveling from Tampa, Florida via the Panama Canal to Esperance when it hit the reef at 34°7.4′S 122°5.1′E, near Hood Island within the Recherche Archipelago, approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) south south east of Esperance.
Initially, salvage plans were put in place, however the ship started to break up and broke into three pieces and sank on the night of 17 and 18 February. During the break up, all of the cargo and fuel were released into the sea and most of the oil washed onto the beaches of nearby Cape Le Grand National Park. Two-hundred drums of chemical dispersant was used in the cleanup operation.
The subsequent investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau found the fault to be human error by the master of the ship.