2023-07-10 09:55:00
ten hours demanded the operation that ended with the Magdalena María II (that boat that used to be a fishing asset) at the bottom of the sea, turned into a new attraction of the Las Grutas underwater parkwhich is unique in the world.
It all started in the Puerto San Antonio Este at 7.30′ and culminated at 17, in the spa.
The María Magdalena II was towed from Puerto San Antonio Este.
“The last submerged ships are prepared to be toured inside. There are places where you can visit ships and get into them, but they come from shipwrecks. These are the only ones that were conditioned for this tour” said Sebastián Leal, the professional diver who is part of the Cota Cero Buceo firm, which is the one that devised the project.
“We started very early, because the first thing we had to do was to tow the boat. I had to go on top of the Magdalena María II, because I had to check that there were no setbacks. The Viento tugboat and other support ships were in this section. It takes us two and a half hours to get to Las GrutasSebas counted.
There is team: the sinking crew. Sheba Loyal, Jonathan Padilla, Mark Girao, Tony Brochado and Mark Painenahuel. The task of filling the Cup of water to ensure that the maneuver is given in a balanced manner.
Once in the spa, they arrived at the area where the sinking would take place, at the height of Piedras Coloradas. “There some biologists who had already descended were waiting for us to see the place where the ship would remain” said the diver.
Only then did the sinking phase begin. The diver Marcos Guirao and the diving firm El Austral played a key role, since it began the task of filling the Magdalena with water to achieve that the maneuver was given in a balanced way. “It had to be ‘upright’, that is, straight, so that when it reached the bottom, a ‘bed’ was naturally created followingwards, in a process that buries and fixes it more and moreLeal detailed.
In order for the ingress of water to be dynamic, they not only opened the areas through which the liquid normally passes in the ships, but they also discovered those perforations that they had added to speed up the process.
Seba Leal installed a camera on the ship that recorded shocking scenes of the sinking.
“We stayed on top of the boat until it was full of water. Then the other part began, that of dropping the anchor and get him to stay in a good position. For that part, this time, we were several. It was a lot of force that had to be exerted” recalled the man.
The postcard of the ship disappearing into the sea was the most anticipated. “Now we are very happy. The Prefecture will carry out an inspection and will surely enable the sporting activity, because everything happened perfectly” confided Leal.
The old fishing vessel leaves for its second life. Photos: Seba Leal.
He also anticipated that in just three months the sunken structure will be filled with life. “In November it will already be covered with marine vegetation and invaded by fish” expressed the diver.
He was also pleased that the park project gave new life to ships that were not operating, occupying space on the pontoon of the Port of San Antonio Este. “That pontoon broke free” Sebas was happy.
The park is the height of Piedras Coloradas, south of Las Grutas.
It remains to 7.4 kilometers from the coast and the fishing boats are separated from each other by one nautical mile, that is, by 1.85 km, which makes the journey an adventure.
The first vessel to sink was the Don Félix, which hit rock bottom in 2007. The others were then added, in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
With the latest addition the artificial reef has 5 boats. It is that the Magdalena María II will share the underwater scene together with the Don Félix, the Mariana Rojamar, the Chiarpesca 59 and the Polarborg I.
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