Sinking the Lena

The Lena story commenced for us in February 2002 when the vessel was detected fishing illegally for Patagonian toothfish in Australian waters some 4000km south-west of Perth. Over the next few weeks the Lena was chased and finally apprehended by HMAS Canberra and eventually towed to Fremantle where the crew were charged for illegal fishing activities. The Bunbury Chamber of Commerce became aware of plans by the Australian Government to sink the Lena in deep water off the coast and immediately requested access to the vessel to sink as a dive wreck in 17 meters of water only 3 nautical miles from the coast. In December 2002 the Lena arrived in Bunbury and work commenced immediately to prepare the boat for sinking as a dive wreck. The Lena was ready to be scuttled on Friday the 19th December 2003 at 12:17pm. This was exactly 12 months to the day that the Lena was towed from Henderson towards Bunbury. The day started early with the Lena being towed from Bunbury Harbour just after 3:00am and as she moved down the coast to the scuttling site. On site at 5.30am final preparations were completed and explosive charges were wired up and set for the scuttling. The Customs patrol vessel the "Dame Roma Mitchell" was acting as the control point and the ships Commander was delegated to provide the countdown to detonation. Finally at 11.30am the tug arrived, the Lena was moved into position, crew exited the Lena and at 12.10pm the 5 minute warning was given. Then the 1 minute warning, then finally the final countdown. As we reached zero a plume of fire exploded into the sky, and 1 minute later the Lena was gone -- where she had been moments before marked only by a mass of bubbles and small items of debris. The sinking went absolutely according to plan, the vessel settled straight and level and with a heading just north of due west. Now she is on the seabed, sitting in 17m of water but clearly visible from the surface. Below the water fish immediately made her their new home. Only one day after the sinking large schools of "Bullseyes" were videoed around the stern and propeller and rudder. Two weeks after the sinking large schools of bait fish swarmed over the and through the wheelhouse. The Lena very quickly became a new, vibrant and diverse ecosystem where previously there was only sand.