Trade-A-Boat – August 2019

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FEATURE | HMAS DIVE SITES

UNDERSEA BENEFITS

All of this constitutes a long and costly process.

In the case of ex-HMAS Hobart, for example, the

pre-scuttling project (in 2002) took a 16-person team

eight months to complete, at a cost of $1.8 million.

Adelaide, which was a larger and more

complicated project, involved more than 30,000

hours by a crew of 20 over 18 months (2010-11), at a

cost of $6.6 million.

After scuttling, the wreck site is subject to long

term monitoring and management, as required

by the Sea Dumping Permit, that includes the

vessel’s structural integrity, stability and position,

sedimentation and erosion of the site, and the volume

and diversity of colonisation by marine life.

Regardless of composition or method of

construction, artificial reefs tend to develop in more

or less predictable stages.

First, the hard surfaces provide a platform where

algae and invertebrates (such as barnacles and

oysters) attach.

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE Ex-HMAS Hobart's final day afloat; Divers inspecting the Hobart's communications; Ex-
HMAS Perth flying more colours than ever before; Coordinated explosions put the Perth to rest