New attraction in Piechcin - sinking of the anchor ship "Czajka"

Yesterday, 27 August 2015, an extraordinary event took place at the Piechcin Diving Base. The reservoir there was enriched with a new attraction. Around noon the anchor vessel H/M “Czajka” was launched, which was then sunk in the deepest part of the flooded pit.

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The owner of the Piechcin Diving Base, Mr Krzysztof Chodakowski, tried to supervise the action. The action was watched by dozens of people, mainly divers, who wanted to take advantage of the Thursday’s hot day underwater.

The metal boat, which already had its glory years behind it, rested prepared on an open lorry trailer. It was built in 1967 and registered by the Ministry of Inland Navigation in Bydgoszcz in 1968.

A crane pulled up and after setting up, preparations began to lift the “Czajka”, turn around with it and place it on the surface of the water. The vessel, whose purpose was to mark the dredging sites and perform the anchoring manoeuvre, weighed 13 tonnes after removing the engine and other environmentally harmful equipment. The television arrived and the divers present at the Base pulled out their mobile phones and cameras to record the event they were witnessing.

In the meantime, professional firefighters from the District Headquarters in Żnin and firefighters from the OSP Piechcin also arrived to help. The action was commanded by the Deputy Commander in Żnin, Mr Jarosław Umiński. Thanks to the firefighters, soon there were two ribs on the water, whose task was to pull the anchor ship to the right place on the reservoir.

The action was quite smooth, and some lucky people caught the “hundreds” in front of the TV camera.

When the ship was over the site of the sinking, a pump was put into action and H/M “Czajka” was flooded from the inside. Firefighters estimated the time until sinking at several hours.

The heat was pouring from the sky and the observers were impatient to finally cool off underwater. The area was temporarily closed for divers. This moment lasted a couple of hours and finally, after intervention, the left part of the flooded pit was made available to us.

The moment the boat sank and became a wreck lasted for seconds and few people managed to record it.

Unfortunately, at the last moment the “Czajka” turned over and rested upside down. In an interview Mr Krzysztof Chodakowski admitted that buoyancy balloons would have to be used to raise the wreck, turn it over and lower it again so that it stood on its keel.

Wojciech Zgoła
wojtek@dive-adventure.eu

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Name: H/M Czajka
Type of intended use: motor tug, anchor-type vessel for marking dredging sites and for performing anchoring manoeuvres
Length: 19.4 m
Width: 4.04 m
Height of sides: 1,30 m
Height to the highest point of the superstructure: 4,0 m
Engine power: 60 HP
Number of crew: 3 persons
Year of manufacture: 1967
Year of registration: 1968