Marianna Shipwreck - Nima Diving Center

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THE
MARIANNA SHIPWRECK

The Marianna shipwreck is one of the best wreck dives in Greece.

It is a perfect dive for Open Water divers, and even more exciting for Advanced divers. The Marianna wreck lies between the surface and a maximum depth of 25 metres.

The whole ship stretches over 100 metres long and the rear part of the boat (33 metres long and 25 metres tall) is fully intact. The bow of the boat is broken in pieces all over the reef at 5-15 metres deep.

The story of the Marianna shipwreck

The Marianna, originally called the 'Niels Marsk', was a dutch cargo ship over 90 metres long built in 1961. In 1980, it was sold to a Greek company and renamed 'Marianna'.

In July 1981, the Marianna set sail from Piraeus (Athens) heading to the Persian golf. It was carrying sheets of metal, water supplies, fertiliser, irrigation pipes, and marble amongst other things. It was fully loaded.

On 24 July 1981, the Marianna crashed on a shallow reef between Naxos and Paros. All 24 crew members were rescued by locals and were unharmed.

A representative from the insurance company ordered that no one touch the Marianna shipwreck until they arrived to survey the damage. 2 days later they arrived and the stern (rear) of the boat had already sunk, but the bow (front) remained on the rocks several metres above the surface.

The Port authorities were immediately concerned that the wreckage would damage the marine environment and pose a threat to other shipping vessels.

It was decided that they should explode the ship and remove any wreckage above the surface. From 1982 - 1984, a local salvage expert led a team of technicians and divers in blowing up the Marianna.

Big parts of the wreck were cut and transported for recycling. The propellor was taken by the Port authorities but the main body of the ship remains underwater. On a flat day, you can see part of the crane sticking out at the surface.

an original photo of the Marianna from 1982.

THE STORY

THE DIVE PLAN

The dive plan

Ready to explore further? Want to go inside the Marianna?
Do your PADI Wreck specialty at Nima!

New Layer

If you are wreck certified then we can arrange a penetration dive, and if this is something you're interested in we can offer the PADI Wreck Specialty course.

We start the Marianna dive with a back-roll entry from our dive boat. For less experienced divers, we descend using a line to around 10 metres deep. Advanced divers can free descend to the same depth.

We start our dive on the reef, checking out the wreckage of the bow of the boat. Depending on the experience level of the divers, we either spend the entire dive exploring the bow, or we cross over to the stern of the boat.

At the stern, we do a multilevel dive checking out each of the decks of the ship. We don't penetrate inside, but we can swim along the corridors along the side of the boat.

We then make our way back to the bow and do our safety stop there.

Ready to explore further? Want to go inside the Marianna? Do your PADI Wreck specialty at Nima!

Ready to explore further? Want to go inside the Marianna?
Do your PADI Wreck specialty at Nima!