Dakar & Ngor · Senegal · Wreck
Charbonnier
A coal barge at 30 to 37 m, its coal cargo still in the wreck
Area photo: Jeff Attaway from Abuja, Nigeria · CC BY 2.0
The Charbonnier is a coal barge aground off the Dakar coast, dived deep: Oceanium's page for the site gives 35 to 37 m and its overview of the city's wrecks 30 to 35 m. The club lists French Level 2 for it and says pieces of the coal it carried can still be found inside the wreck. It is one of four wrecks it names around the peninsula, and the only one it calls a barge rather than a ship.
Also known as Le Charbonnier.
Where it is and how deep
14.6135° N, 17.3888° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
Site maps published elsewhere
The dive
A barge rather than a ship: the Charbonnier ran aground off the Dakar coast and is dived deep. Oceanium's page for the site gives 35 to 37 m, its overview of Dakar's wrecks 30 to 35 m, and it lists French Level 2 either way — so this is one deep circuit rather than a long exploration. Descend onto the wreck, keep the profile flat at the depth the crew brief, and turn the dive on gas: at these depths the no-stop clock runs out well before a tank does.
The cargo is the detail that makes the site: the barge carried coal, and pieces of it can still be found in the wreck. Beyond that the club publishes no dimensions, no date for the grounding and no marine life for the site, so what grows on the hull is whatever the peninsula's cool, green upwelling water has put there, and it will look different in the clear months.
The position on this page is approximate: the Charbonnier's marker on the club's map sits in the same cluster as three other named sites, so treat it as a zone off the peninsula rather than a fix. Like the rest of Dakar's wrecks it is booked by name with a club and found by the boat crew; no public chart or wreck plan of it exists that we could find.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Charbonnier
- Type
- Coal barge; the barge's own name is not published
- Cause
- Ran aground off the Dakar coast; no date or circumstances are published
- Lies
- Aground off the Dakar coast in 30 to 37 m, with pieces of its coal cargo still inside
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Good |
Season follows Dakar & Ngor: Upwelling from about December to May cools water to 17-21°C and dims visibility; October-November is the warm, clear window.
Know before you go
- The published depths run to 37 m, where no-stop time is short and narcosis is a factor; plan the ascent and the gas reserve before the descent, not on the bottom.
- The wreck's condition is not documented anywhere — treat plating and any openings as unstable and dive it from the outside.
Sources
- Charbonnier site page — Oceanium Diving Center
- Nos plongées — Oceanium Diving Center
More dive sites in Dakar & Ngor
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A narrow passage and rocky drop-off between two volcanic islets
Wreck
A 38 m wreck the Dakar club names but does not describe
A 1940 cargo wreck at 14 m, a few hundred metres off Gorée Island
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