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Rota · Northern Mariana Islands · Wreck

Seven Screws

A former China river ship seized in a smuggling bust and sunk for divers

Seven Screws is the second wreck in Sasanaya Bay, a ship that once worked the rivers of China before it was confiscated in a smuggling bust and sunk for sport diving. It rests on sand to 33 m in water that can run with very strong currents.

Also known as Seven Screw.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Seven Screws: typical dive to 33 m (to 108 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit33 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

14.1286° N, 145.1467° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.

The dive

The dive combines the hull with the sand bottom it sits on, and the deepest point is 33 m. The sandy seabed around the hull is alive with garden eels, as it is around the Shoun Maru elsewhere in the bay.

The wreck

Vessel
Seven Screws
Type
River ship
Cause
Confiscated in a smuggling bust and deliberately sunk for sport diving
Lies
On a sand bottom in Sasanaya Bay, to 33 m

Before it came to Rota, the ship that became the Seven Screws dive site plied the rivers of China. It was confiscated during a smuggling bust and sunk in Sasanaya Bay for sport diving. It now lies in the same bay as the Shoun Maru, a 1944 Japanese wartime freighter, and the bay is a marine sanctuary.

Marine life and season

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

Month-by-month season rating for Seven Screws
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
GoodGoodPrimePrimePrimePrimePrimePrimePrimeGoodGoodGood

Season follows Rota: Rota Hole is at its best from March to September for the light beams; the Shoun Maru is dived year-round.

Know before you go

  • The current over the wreck can be very strong.

Sources

  1. Dive Sites of Blue Palms Rota — Blue Palms Rota
  2. Diving into the CNMI — Outdoor Japan
  3. Sasanhaya, Rota — OpenStreetMap

More dive sites in Rota

Cave & cavern

Pearlman Tunnel

A tunnel that climbs from the drop-off to open water near the surface

to 35 madvanced

Cave & cavern

Rota Hole

Shafts of sunlight beaming down into a cave

to 18 mintermediate

Wreck

Shoun Maru

A 122 m (400 ft) freighter often visible end to end from the surface

to 33 madvanced

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Shrimp and goby burrows in the sand under the propellers

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Soft and hard coral from a shallow mast to the stern

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