Explore South Australia’s Ships’ Graveyards Without Getting Wet

Wednesday, 24 February 2010 11:05

Explore South Australia’s Ships’ Graveyards Without Getting Wet

South Australia (www.southaustralia.com) has approximately 800 known shipwrecks off its coast, most of which can only be explored by qualified divers. Now non-divers have the chance to see wrecks located in sites along the State’s coast and waterways and known as Ships’ Graveyards of South Australia (www.shipsgraveyards.sa.gov.au).

credit, City of Port Adelaide Enfield, Department of Environment & Heritage, South Australia

A total of 19 sites have been identified as having the remains of one or up to 25 deliberately scuttled vessels. Many were abandoned on muddy shores so can easily be viewed by land, kayak or small boat, giving maritime enthusiasts an interesting and rewarding experience that is usually only available to qualified divers.

Wrecks abandoned at these official graveyards demonstrate shipbuilding technologies from the 1850s to the 1960s and represent the diversity of craft that plied South Australian waters during the 19th and 20th centuries. They range from majestic windjammers, steamships and motor vessels that travelled international waters, to coastal traders, fishing boats, ferries, tugs, dredges and barges.

credit City of Port Adelaide Enfield, Sama Reid, South Australia

credit City of Port Adelaide Enfield, Sama Reid, South Australia

A new trail booklet, en route land-based interpretative signs and a web site all feature non-diving ships’ graveyard sites which include:

GARDEN ISLAND SHIPS’ GRAVEYARD MARITIME HERITAGE TRAIL - Wrecks along this trail represent a unique collection of craft which sailed in South Australian waters during an era when the maritime industry dominated transport, trade and employment.

JERVOIS BASIN SHIPS’ GRAVEYARD MARITIME HERITAGE TRAIL - The Jervois Basin region lies within the upper reaches of the Port Adelaide River where for more than a century this area was a busy commercial and industrial centre.

credit, City of Port Adelaide Enfield, Department of Environment & Heritage, South Australia

The largest concentration of graveyard sites is near Adelaide on the mudflats of Port Adelaide or the shallow coastal waters of Gulf St Vincent. Five individual sites are in the Port Adelaide area, containing a total of at least 40 vessels, the largest is at Garden Island in the North Arm of the Port River with 25 known vessels abandoned between 1909 and 1945. Other sites are at Jervois Basin, Mutton Cove, Broad Creek and Angas Inlet.

-ENDS-

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March 2012 News From South Australia

March 2012 news from South Australia (www.southaustralia.com) includes a new three-centre itinerary on board the famous Murray Princess paddle wheeler; incentives to attract more visitors to Adelaide; a new tour from Sealink and a new seafood festival on Kangaroo Island.

With more than 4,700 kilometres (or 2,900 miles) of beautiful, wilderness coastline and uncrowded, pristine beaches across South Australia (www.southaustralia.com), there are plenty of amazing marine experiences to be had both under, on top of and beside the sea. From swimming with sea lions and tuna, to shark cage diving and whale watching.

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