+64 27 2782250 pete@Lust4Rust.co Auckland, New Zealand

Mikhail Lermontov

Sunk under Questionable circumstances in 1986, one of the best Ocean Liner dives in the World

Diving the Mikhail Lermontov has to be one of the best wreck dives in the Southern Hemisphere! It is conducive for all levels of wreck diver (see our prerequisites) from beginner to advanced Wreck Penetration diver.

She lies on her starboard side in 35m of water with the shallowest part of the wreck in 12m! So you can really enjoy your wreck dive with minimal decompression necessary.

At 176 metres / 577 feet and with a gross tonnage of 20,500, the Ivan Franko class Liners were the largest passenger ships then built  by an East German shipyard. As such they became symbols of the renewed industrial capacity of East Germany. The final of five Ivan Franko class ships completed was the Mikhail Lermontov which was handed over in March 1972.

The Mikhail Lermontov left Sydney on the 7th of February 1986 and visited a number of north eastern New Zealand ports before arriving in Wellington on the 15th of February.

Joining the vessel while she was in Wellington was the Marlborough Harbour Board Pilot and Acting General Manager Captain Don Jamison. He was to pilot the vessel into and out of the restricted waters of the Marlborough Sounds during her visit to Picton. It was Jamison who would plot a course of the ultimate demise of the Lermontov.

The ultimate wreck diving destination

She lies on her starboard side in 35m of water with the shallowest part of the wreck in 12m! So you can really enjoy your wreck dive with minimal decompression necessary.

At 176 metres / 577 feet and with a gross tonnage of 20,500, the Ivan Franko class Liners were the largest passenger ships then built  by an East German shipyard.

© All content copyright Pete Mesley.