Looking forward to GUE Extravaganza 2009

Its nearly October and that means its nearly time for our annual GUE expedition to the wrecks of the South China Seas. This year promises to be every bit as good as previous years with a number of other GUE Instructors joining Gideon and Leon on the MV Black Manta.

MV Black Manta

The trip is planned around doing some serious Tech 1 and Tech 2 level exploration on both HMS Repulse and TT Seven Skies as follows:

Day 1: TT Seven Skies

Day 2: HMS Repulse

Day 3: HMS Repulse

Day 4: TT Seven Skies

Day 5: MV Maritime Fidelity

This year there will be multiple camera teams and a healthy supply of scooters to ensure that we come away from the trip with some seriously good documentary footage.

Importantly we will be revisiting the Seven Skies exactly 40 years and a day since her sinking on Monday 6th October 1969. To commemorate this anniversary I have been brushing up on my Swedish to research newspaper and survivor accounts of the explosion and sinking that claimed four crew men's lives. You can read my research into the incident here and about our previous dives on the wreck in 2007 here.

This year is also the 68th anniversary of the sinking of HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales on 10th December 1941. We feel honoured to have the opportunity to return to document some more of this majestic battle cruiser as a mark of respect for her fallen crewmen.

Finally we will have the opportunity to revisit the MV Maritime Fidelity which sank 10 years ago on 1st June 1999 following a collision with the VLCC New Venture. This is a great penetration wreck and we are looking forward to getting some good footage of the engine room and lower decks, and perhaps even visiting the detached superstructure.