Atago Maru
 |
This article is an orphan, as few or no other articles link to it. Please introduce links to this page from related articles; suggestions are available. (May 2009) |
The Atago Maru was a merchant ship built prior to World War II in Glasgow in 1924 by Lithgows & Sons.
She was built as a general cargo freighter for the Japanese and operated between Kobe / Yokohama and the West coast of USA and Canada.
In 1943 she was converted to carry oil.
She was sunk off Miri, Sarawak on 28th November 1944 while at anchor just offshore of the Lutong refinery just North of Miri.
She was sunk in about 12m of water only about 1 mile offshore. Her masts were visible sticking up out of the water until about the 1980s.
Diving the Atago Maru
The area in which she was sunk is quite silty being so close inshore. However she is not a bad dive. Much of the wreck is covered by silt from the nearby Baram river over the intervening years. However the Bow, the main superstructure and the engine room skylights all stick up several metres above the silt.
The wreck is best dived near the top of the tide so that the tide has been rising and fresh seawater has come in over the wreck. At this point you may find a thin layer of muddy water on top, clear water in the middle from about 3m to 10m where the superstructure sticks up. Additionally you want to dive when there has been a period of calm weather with little rain, then the bottom 2m will be clearer too.
Two dive centres serve the Miri area:
- Tropical Dives
- Red Monkey Divers
Additionally the Piasau Boat Club has a dive club called Piasau Divers who regularly dive the wreck, but this is a private club open only to members and clubs with reciprocal rights.
External links
