Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/MV Seli 1

The dive site MV Seli 1 or just the Seli is an inshore recent wreck in Table Bay near Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

Seli 1 was a bilk carrier of 18534 tons, built by Hyundai Heavy Industries, and originally named Asia Sun. It was powered by a low speed diesel engine and had a top speed of 16 knots. The vessel was driven agroun by wing in September 2009. Efforts to refloat were unsuccessful, and salvage was done at SA taxpayer's expense as it was not properly insured. The cargo of coal was mostly recovered, an most of the fuel oil removed. An explosion on board while wrecking the hull on site was followed by bad weather which did further damage, and some of the fuel leaked out ad fouled seabirds.

-33.8245518.4710171 MV Seli 1: S33°49.473' E18°28.261', 530 m off the beach at Bloubergstrand.

This site is not in a Marine Protected Area. A permit is not required.

"Seli 1" is the name of the ship that was wrecked at the site.

Maximum depth is about 10 m, and the top of the stern is awash at low tide

The wreckage is considerably broken up. The wreck lies upright on the sand, roughly parallel to the shoreline, with the bow to the south. There is a lot of scour all round the wreck, and sand has been deposited ofer the depper wreckage. The hull is 171 m long on a debris field of about 200 mmlong and 95 m wide, as much of the hull plating has collapsed outwards. On the port side roughly amidships there is wreckage of one of the ship's cranes.

The site is exposed to winds from any direction, and waves from the west and north-west, so should be dived in easterly winds or a calm, with no westerly swell, and is most likely to be diveable in summer, during or after south easterly winds. The site is reasonably protected from south-westerly swell. A long swell will produce powerful surge, as can be seen from the extensive scour pits.

Boat dive from Oceana Power Boat Club slipway or the V&A Waterfront, or from Melkbosstrand.

It can also be done as a shore dive from the beach but if a southeasterly (offshore) wind develops the swim back should be underwater as far as reasonably practicable.

Dive and explore the wreck, and let us know what you find.

Extensive wreckage of a large cargo vessel of the late 20th century.

A long swell will cause strong surge across the wreck, lifting sand and reducing visibility, and potentially knocking a diver against hard and sharp wreckage, which could cause injury or damage to equipment.

No special skills required.

No special equipment needed.

• Bruce Henderson and Kelly Graham, 2024, Wood, Iron and Steel: Shipwrecks Mapped off the Western Cape, Wreckless Marine, Cape Town. ISBN 978-1-037-00702-6

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Back to the Alphabetical list of sites, or list of dive sites in the Robben Island area

Other regional dive sites:

• Dive sites of the Cape Peninsula west coast
• Dive sites of the Cape Peninsula east coast
• Dive sites of False Bay offshore and approaches
• Dive sites of False Bay east coast
• Fresh water dive sites of the Cape Town Metropolitan Area