Madang Diving - Scuttling of the Doilon

The Scuttling of the Doilon - 1994

Madang has many 'accidental' wreck sites and also a number of interesting scuttled wrecks. The Doilon had outlived her usefulness above the water. Lutheran Shipping, a coastal shipping operation, arranged to have her towed to the reef at the north end of Kranket Island. United Pacific Drilling sent its explosive experts to plant charges in her engine room, and . . .
	KABOOM! You can see the white water boiling up at the stern at the left near the rock. The spray along the length of the ship is only the water thrown into the air from the detonating cord used to set off the main charge. The blasting machine was located on the shore off the picture at the right.
She took about thirty seconds to sink. The blast made two holes nearly two meters in diameter on either side of the hull near the stern. Divers can swim through her engine room from one side to the other. Small buds of coral were found on her within a year. She rests at an average depth of about 15 meters, so growth of reef organisms is rapid. We have counted as many as 25 lionfish on her and she has a growing colony of flashlight fish, making an interesting night dive. When the water is clear, her bow can be seen by snorkelers.