CARGO SHIP "MOHAWK DEER"


The Sinking

The MOHAWK DEER was a quite aged Canadian Cargo ship, that was built in Montreal in 1896.
During that day, November 5th 1967, she was being tugged from Genova by the Jugoslavian tugship "Junak" to the harbour of La Spezia, together with a second smaller ship ("Makawell", ca. 2500 Tons) in order to be demolished. Yet the weather conditions were very stormy, so when the steel cable broke the MOHAWK DEER went adrift and pointing toward the slopes of San Fruttuoso bay, it went to clash against the rocks and immediately sank shortly off the cliffs of Cala degli Inglesi at the cape of Portofino.
The hull went broken in 2 pieces: the bow lies now, together with the fore bridge at a depth between 60 fsw/18 m. and 117 fsw/35 m. on a rocky see bottom.
The steam boilers, pretty large, ended though on the sandy bottom at a depth of 168 fsw/50 m., not far from the rest of the ship. The cargo was not loaded that time, so part of its iron plated walls had spread out all around the surrounding bottom area. The cargo ship lies now perpendicular to the direction of the coast, showing its bow perpendicularly leaned at about 45°, just few feet away from the cliffs: these still show some rusty stains and scratches that remained after the clash during the storm.

The Dive

This is a quite easy dive, that is one at reach of photographers and recreational divers (OW, ADVANCED) who might have even a not considerable diving experience, provided they do not exceed the depths around the fore bridge (135 fsw/40 m). The wreck is suitable for any dive schools and dive training sessions.
The fore bridge is pretty free from any debris and large windows offer good shots to photographers, that can be made more attractive by light effects, without any danger for divers. From the bow the anchor can be easily located, together with its chain, which yet had been cut in the recent past probably by a looter who tried to get it out.
The path toward the fore bridge is littered by plates and other not dangerous debris: here many bentonic species are living together in many little holes and clefts.

When going down beyond the fore bridge you can pass the depth of 135 fsw., where hull ends in debris, reaching then the muddy bottom at 168 fsw.: here scattered debris and twisted plates still lie, together with the steam boilers, located a bit farther.
The diving below the 135 fsw/40 m. is yet a dive that can be safely performed by experienced divers in deep or technical diving.
For diving down to max 135 fsw/40 m. a classic 15 L. cylinder still is enough, even for a short decompression time (5-10 min) at the placed line.
Since it is as a matter of fact possible to recreationally dive around the wreck at depth around and beyond the 135 fsw/40 m, here Nitrox Diving beginners should be prevented (or strongly controlled) from diving with EAN 32 or 36: Nitrox diving here can be only performed in safety if the dive plan is exactly followed and held within the standard max depths for Nitrox 32, since the wreck strechtes itself far below these depths.
Diving down to the steam boilers entails then the typical technical standard equipment, even though this dive may be performed with a 18 L. cylinder. A EAN 50 stage cylinder is here recommended for the final deco stops.