Mar del Plata · Argentina · Wreck
Khronometer
An 82 m Soviet fishing vessel at 25 m
Area photo: FarSouthNavy · CC BY 4.0
The Khronometer is an 82 m Russian fishing vessel scuttled in the Cristo Rey underwater park on 30 April 2014, the park's second ship after a gap of 33 years. It lies at 25 m off the Punta Mogotes lighthouse and is now an artificial reef that fish use as shelter.
Also known as Kronomether.
Where it is and how deep
38.1236° S, 57.5046° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The Khronometer lies at 25 m in the same sector of the seabed as the Cristo Rey and the Simbad, inside the Cristo Rey park. The hull is 82 m long, and sensors fitted to it measure turbidity, water temperature and light for local research.
Ships sunk in the park are closed up, stripped of anything that could snag a diver and cleaned of contaminants under inspection before they go down. Within six months of the sinking the hull was covered in algae, and within two years it carried the marine life found on it today; the wreck works as a refuge for fish as well as a dive site.
Visibility in the park is usually limited. The site is close to the coast and sits between two rocky banks, and the strong flow of water between them keeps it murky. Divers can still fly over the hull and take in its full size.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Khronometer
- Type
- Russian fishing vessel
- Length
- 82 m (269 ft)
- Sunk
- 2014
- Cause
- Scuttled in the Cristo Rey park on 30 April 2014 as an artificial reef, donated by the firm preparing it for scrapping
- Lies
- At 25 m in the Cristo Rey park, in the same sector as the Cristo Rey and the Simbad
The Khronometer was left stranded in Mar del Plata when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. During a clean-up of the port, the company preparing it for scrapping donated it, and it was sent to the existing underwater park instead. The sinking on 30 April 2014 took a little over seven hours from the start of the manoeuvres and gave the park its second ship, 33 years after the first.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good |
Season follows Mar del Plata: The best months are September to November and March to May. Water falls to 8–16 °C from May to September, though club boats still go out in July.
Know before you go
- Strong currents run through the park, which lies close to the coast between two rocky banks, and limit visibility around the hull.
Dive videos
KHRONOMETER 2 AÑOS DESPUES · Pedro Bagnati on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Khronometer wreck in Mar del Plata?+
The Khronometer lies at 25 m in the Cristo Rey underwater park, off the Punta Mogotes lighthouse.
Sources
- Parque Submarino Cristo Rey — Centro de Actividades Submarinas Escualo
- Bucear en La Feliz: el mundo submarino desconocido por muchos marplatenses — Diario La Capital de Mar del Plata
- Una incursión a los barcos hundidos frente a la costa de Mar del Plata — Diario La Capital de Mar del Plata
- El parque submarino Cristo Rey sumó al pesquero Simbad — Diario La Capital de Mar del Plata
- El pesquero Simbad, hundido hace un año, es el nuevo gran atractivo del parque submarino Cristo Rey — Ahora Mar del Plata
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