M/S ST. Svithun

The ultimate trimix dive. This technical dive requires extensive experience of deep-sea diving under special conditions.

The first dive to this wreck was done in 1986, but since then nobody has been back! NDive is planning drive trips to the wreck for the summer of 2011. This expedition will be for special-interest, experienced divers.

The Hurtigrute (national coastal express) vessel, the St. Svithun, rests in open water at a depth of 64 metres, after she ran aground on 21 October 1962. The events that caused this tragedy will never be fully accounted for as all the bridge officers perished: the captain, pilot, chief officer and helmsman.

A total of 41 souls were lost in the accident – 48 were rescued.

The loss of the St. Svithun is one of the most dramatic in the history of Norwegian shipping, and is recounted in a book devoted to this tale of Norway’s own small-scale ‘Titanic’ disaster. On 3 August 2002, a memorial plaque was unveiled on a stone by Nordøyan lighthouse in memory of those who lost their lives.

The St. Svithun was built at Cantieri Naval Riuniti in Italy in 1950. On delivery, she had a gross registered tonnage of 2,095. The vessel was 81.6 metres in length and was certified to carry 575 passengers on small coastal voyages and 850 passengers in sheltered waters (where unsheltered stretches do not exceed 25 nautical miles.