British Columbia has gained a decidedly different type of artificial reef and diving attraction, with the sinking of a whole Boeing 737 airframe off Vancouver Island.

Built in the 1970s, the decommissioned Air Canada 737-200 was donated by Qwest Airparts of Memphis, Tennessee, with the support of the airline. Its January sinking off Chemainus, in Vancouver Island's north-east, was organised by the non-profit Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia.

Divers touch down on the 30.5m-long fuselage at a depth of about 20m, and can swim either through or beneath the plane, which sits on three stands well clear of the seabed. The ARSBC oversaw the decontamination of the plane and stripping of furniture and other materials that could snag diving equipment.

"The airframe, with its wide-open inside space and numerous existing windows, will offer a well-lit, expansive reef to explore at an advantageous depth," says the ARSBC. "It will be an excellent and safe place to learn basic wreck diving and overhead environment skills."

Since 1991, the ARSBC has created six other artificial reefs off Vancouver Island and the neighbouring mainland. All are ships, five of them naval destroyers.

An associated organisation, Canadian Artificial Reef Consulting, was created in 2002 to apply the ARSBC's know-how in an international advisory capacity. It worked on the sinking of the frigate HMS Scylla, popular with British divers, off Plymouth, Devon in March 2004.

Its most recent completed project was the sinking of another frigate, HMNZS Wellington, formerly the Falklands War veteran HMS Bacchante, off Wellington, New Zealand last November.

Related links
ARSBC website
CARC website


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