March 30, 2013, 3:12 pm
![article_image]()
by Dr Amal Randhir Karunaratna
When one thinks of shipwrecks and treasure you imagine Spanish Galleons laden with gold sitting on the ocean floor. While some of these do exist and salvagers do find them, there is another kind of treasure. Tragedies at sea reduced to piles of rusted metal have become an endless source of fascination for divers, and a source of income for fishermen and salvagers.
For Sri Lanka, long deprived of normal economic development, the lure of a pile of twisted metal is alluring. The choice is this: at a rough price of, say, around Rs50 per Kg of steel, a 15,000 tonne "Handy size" bulk carrier sitting at the bottom of the ocean can represent around one-off revenue of Rs750 million for a salvager who would hire complex equipment, brave the elements using skilled workers to bring the steel to the surface. This is a one-off income for a salvager. Alternatively, left as it is, if around 1,000 divers dived on that same vessel, it could generate about Rs 30 – 50 million in revenue and jobs for diving operators per year in perpetuity with hotels, restaurants and transport multiplying this number manyfold with an annual revenue stream needing no further maintenance other than simple protection.
If, to this conservative estimate, one adds accompanying friends and family for holiday travel, the revenue stream would be double or more. With a long maritime history, there are many explored, exploited and unexplored shipwrecks around the coast of Sri Lanka with varying estimates of 200 or more that already attract divers who are typically high value visitors. Studies have shown that wreck divers spend more money on dives than general recreational divers. Multiply these estimates by 10 years, growth in numbers, benefits to fisheries and multiplier effects and the one-off narrow benefit is hard to justify.
The diving industry has the potential to generate employment and economic multiplier effects to our post-war economy much greater than a one-off value for limited stakeholders from a destructive salvage operation. As far as can be determined, there is no other dive destination in the world with such a large number of wrecks that can be explored, probably with the exception of Truck lagoon where the wrecks are more recent and concentrated.
Wreck diving has become so popular around the world that many countries are now scuttling decommissioned ships specifically for this purpose. In 2005 HMAS Brisbane, an old Royal Australian Navy vessel, was scuttled off the sunshine coast in Queensland, Australia, and a de-commissioned navy destroyer, was scuttled in South Australia in the late 1990’s attracting hundreds of divers. It is estimated that an additional 25,000 divers will be attracted to the new wreck in Queensland and worth more than A$1 million (Rs 130 million) a year to the state economy, generating more than 200 jobs. The above estimate for Sri Lanka is conservative, hence the upside potential is massive.
Sri Lanka is fast gaining a reputation as a superb location for divers with a passion for wrecks and beautiful reefs. The H.M.S. Hermes is one of the most famous wrecks, already attracting overseas visitors in small numbers off the coast of Batticaloa but should gain popularity as political and economic stability are further established.
Off the coast of Pulmudai, around 30 km north of Trincomallee lies the MV Cordiality, a massive and "beautiful" wreck. Indeed, it’s a world-class wreck-diving site which could attract thousands of divers a year for several decades, earning revenues for dive operators and the hospitality industry in an area that has faced massive privation through the war and tsunami. This wreck may cease to exist in a short time if salvagers continue their extraction of material from it.
![]()
There are many illustrious wrecks around the world that attract thousands of visitors in countries such as Egypt (The Thistlegorm), Truck Lagoon in the Solomon Islands with many wrecks from the second world war, Bali, the UK, the USA and Australia. The Canary Islands attracts hundreds of divers to the scuttled 328 foot Kalais and Cyprus does the same with the 580 foot Zenobia, a ferry that sank off the coast of Larnaca in 1980.
It was estimated in 2002 that marine tourism in Australia generated more than A$1 billion in direct value. A famous wreck, the Yongala, on the barrier reef off the Queensland coast, earns charter operators over $A 1 Million (Rs 100 million) per year with more than 6,400 dives being registered on the dive site. Having dived on the Yongala in 2012, I can vouch for how unforgettable that experience was. An interesting feature of this dive was the massive size of the pelagic marine life. Nearly all the turtles, Sting Rays, Sharks, Queensland Groupers, Trevally and Giant Trevally and just about everything was super-sized compared to anything else I had seen in other places. This is a highly protected area and everything grows to its full-size and unafraid of humans – a total joy to a diver.
While wrecks considered archeologically significant are protected by law, those that are not at risk from salvagers (legal and otherwise) and dynamite fishermen - both constituting vandalism – must also be protected. Galle harbour has around 12 known wrecks and many of these are archeologically significant and of great interest to wreck divers.
In 2008 an attempted salvage of the Earl of Shaftesbury, an important and historic shipwreck off the coast of Hikkaduwa was prevented with immense difficulty; yet, much of it has already been salvaged. Today the MV Cordiality off the coast of Pulmudai has been partially salvaged. It is an immensely beautiful artificial reef, a habitat to many reef fish species such as Hawkfish, Lionfish, Porcupinefish, Scorpionfish, Stonefish, Butterflyfish, Angelfish and Nudibranchs. These artificial reefs are breeding grounds and a protected home for thousands of juvenile Snappers, Fusiliers and Trevally as well as large shoals of their adults. Destroying them deprives fisheries of nurseries for stock replenishment and a brilliant attraction for wreck divers. Sri Lanka’s seas are massively over-fished and vandalised and are in need of careful management.
Comparison of the benefits of salvage versus preservation is one where the latter wins many times over. While salvaging earns a one-off windfall, preservation will create a many-decade income and employment opportunities and an income stream of millions that requires no further effort than simple preservation.
Unprotected wrecks result in emasculated dive sites which disappoint divers, and disappointed divers do not return depriving repeat visits and generate negative word of mouth communications through blogs and websites, and destroys the very market that is being created.
Shipwrecks are part of our "Small Miracle" along with rain forests, beaches and ancient sites that have the potential to attract visitors for a long time to come. They are real but unseen treasures that will create economic benefits for many years into the future.
Dr Amal Randhir Karunaratna is Associate Professor at the University of Adelaide, CEO of Breakthrough Research and a non-executive director at Singhaputra Finance.
Dr. Error! Reference source not found.
dailymirror.lk
by Dr Amal Randhir Karunaratna
For Sri Lanka, long deprived of normal economic development, the lure of a pile of twisted metal is alluring. The choice is this: at a rough price of, say, around Rs50 per Kg of steel, a 15,000 tonne "Handy size" bulk carrier sitting at the bottom of the ocean can represent around one-off revenue of Rs750 million for a salvager who would hire complex equipment, brave the elements using skilled workers to bring the steel to the surface. This is a one-off income for a salvager. Alternatively, left as it is, if around 1,000 divers dived on that same vessel, it could generate about Rs 30 – 50 million in revenue and jobs for diving operators per year in perpetuity with hotels, restaurants and transport multiplying this number manyfold with an annual revenue stream needing no further maintenance other than simple protection.
If, to this conservative estimate, one adds accompanying friends and family for holiday travel, the revenue stream would be double or more. With a long maritime history, there are many explored, exploited and unexplored shipwrecks around the coast of Sri Lanka with varying estimates of 200 or more that already attract divers who are typically high value visitors. Studies have shown that wreck divers spend more money on dives than general recreational divers. Multiply these estimates by 10 years, growth in numbers, benefits to fisheries and multiplier effects and the one-off narrow benefit is hard to justify.
The diving industry has the potential to generate employment and economic multiplier effects to our post-war economy much greater than a one-off value for limited stakeholders from a destructive salvage operation. As far as can be determined, there is no other dive destination in the world with such a large number of wrecks that can be explored, probably with the exception of Truck lagoon where the wrecks are more recent and concentrated.
Wreck diving has become so popular around the world that many countries are now scuttling decommissioned ships specifically for this purpose. In 2005 HMAS Brisbane, an old Royal Australian Navy vessel, was scuttled off the sunshine coast in Queensland, Australia, and a de-commissioned navy destroyer, was scuttled in South Australia in the late 1990’s attracting hundreds of divers. It is estimated that an additional 25,000 divers will be attracted to the new wreck in Queensland and worth more than A$1 million (Rs 130 million) a year to the state economy, generating more than 200 jobs. The above estimate for Sri Lanka is conservative, hence the upside potential is massive.
Sri Lanka is fast gaining a reputation as a superb location for divers with a passion for wrecks and beautiful reefs. The H.M.S. Hermes is one of the most famous wrecks, already attracting overseas visitors in small numbers off the coast of Batticaloa but should gain popularity as political and economic stability are further established.
Off the coast of Pulmudai, around 30 km north of Trincomallee lies the MV Cordiality, a massive and "beautiful" wreck. Indeed, it’s a world-class wreck-diving site which could attract thousands of divers a year for several decades, earning revenues for dive operators and the hospitality industry in an area that has faced massive privation through the war and tsunami. This wreck may cease to exist in a short time if salvagers continue their extraction of material from it.
There are many illustrious wrecks around the world that attract thousands of visitors in countries such as Egypt (The Thistlegorm), Truck Lagoon in the Solomon Islands with many wrecks from the second world war, Bali, the UK, the USA and Australia. The Canary Islands attracts hundreds of divers to the scuttled 328 foot Kalais and Cyprus does the same with the 580 foot Zenobia, a ferry that sank off the coast of Larnaca in 1980.It was estimated in 2002 that marine tourism in Australia generated more than A$1 billion in direct value. A famous wreck, the Yongala, on the barrier reef off the Queensland coast, earns charter operators over $A 1 Million (Rs 100 million) per year with more than 6,400 dives being registered on the dive site. Having dived on the Yongala in 2012, I can vouch for how unforgettable that experience was. An interesting feature of this dive was the massive size of the pelagic marine life. Nearly all the turtles, Sting Rays, Sharks, Queensland Groupers, Trevally and Giant Trevally and just about everything was super-sized compared to anything else I had seen in other places. This is a highly protected area and everything grows to its full-size and unafraid of humans – a total joy to a diver.
While wrecks considered archeologically significant are protected by law, those that are not at risk from salvagers (legal and otherwise) and dynamite fishermen - both constituting vandalism – must also be protected. Galle harbour has around 12 known wrecks and many of these are archeologically significant and of great interest to wreck divers.
In 2008 an attempted salvage of the Earl of Shaftesbury, an important and historic shipwreck off the coast of Hikkaduwa was prevented with immense difficulty; yet, much of it has already been salvaged. Today the MV Cordiality off the coast of Pulmudai has been partially salvaged. It is an immensely beautiful artificial reef, a habitat to many reef fish species such as Hawkfish, Lionfish, Porcupinefish, Scorpionfish, Stonefish, Butterflyfish, Angelfish and Nudibranchs. These artificial reefs are breeding grounds and a protected home for thousands of juvenile Snappers, Fusiliers and Trevally as well as large shoals of their adults. Destroying them deprives fisheries of nurseries for stock replenishment and a brilliant attraction for wreck divers. Sri Lanka’s seas are massively over-fished and vandalised and are in need of careful management.
Comparison of the benefits of salvage versus preservation is one where the latter wins many times over. While salvaging earns a one-off windfall, preservation will create a many-decade income and employment opportunities and an income stream of millions that requires no further effort than simple preservation.
Unprotected wrecks result in emasculated dive sites which disappoint divers, and disappointed divers do not return depriving repeat visits and generate negative word of mouth communications through blogs and websites, and destroys the very market that is being created.
Shipwrecks are part of our "Small Miracle" along with rain forests, beaches and ancient sites that have the potential to attract visitors for a long time to come. They are real but unseen treasures that will create economic benefits for many years into the future.
Dr. Error! Reference source not found.
dailymirror.lk