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A long-legged reddish-orange sea spider stands on dark rock crusted with pink coralline algae, beside a white hydroid polyp — Gulen & the Sognefjord

Gulen & the Sognefjord · Norway · Wreck

Parat

A 1905 rescue steamer standing upright below the Ferndale

Area photo: Bernard Picton · CC BY-SA 4.0

Parat is a small rescue steamer from 1905 that went down with the freighter Ferndale in the Krakhelle sound in December 1944. It lies upright in deep water below and behind its larger twin, and it is a dive only for technical divers breathing trimix.

Also known as SS Parat, rescue steamer Parat.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Parat: typical dive 45–60 m (148–197 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit45 m60 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 70 m (230 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

61.1164° N, 4.8991° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.

The dive

Parat stands upright in 46 to 61 m (150 to 200 ft) of water, below and behind the stern of the Ferndale, and trimix is required for the 45 to 60 m it occupies. The wreck is deep enough that in winter the dive is as dark as a night dive even in the middle of the day.

The wreck

Vessel
Parat
Type
Rescue steamer
Length
33 m (108 ft)
Built
1905
Sunk
1944
Cause
Shot into flames and sunk by British Mosquito aircraft
Lies
Upright in 46–61 m (150–200 ft), below and behind the Ferndale

The rescue steamer Parat was built by Trondhjems Mekaniske Verksted in 1905. The air attack of 16 December 1944 caught her together with the German freighter Ferndale. Both ships were shot into flames, and the smoke drew six more Mosquitos that had been on anti-submarine patrol further west.

Marine life and season

The sources we used don't single out particular species here.

Month-by-month season rating for Parat
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
PrimeGoodGoodGoodGoodPrimePrimeGoodGoodGoodGoodGood

Season follows Gulen & the Sognefjord: Diving runs all year: winter brings the clearest water and the helmet jellyfish, spring and summer the best conditions.

Dive videos

A dive on the wreck of the Parat, Norway · Dory Video on YouTube

Questions divers ask

What certification does the Parat wreck need?+

Parat is a technical dive. The wreck lies between 45 and 60 m, and trimix is required at those depths, so only trained technical divers dive it.

Sources

  1. Norway's iconic twin wrecks — Dykking.no
  2. Gulen Dive Resort, Norway — X-Ray Mag
  3. OpenStreetMap — OpenStreetMap

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Intact hull and stern of a WWII freighter beside its deep twin, Parat

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