The Ocean Revival project

The new artificial reef will consist of four decommissioned vessels from the Portuguese Navy fleet.

According to the project's website the Ocean Revival is born with the objective to promote the underwater tourism in the region by creating an exceptional diving destination. For the first time, four vessels connected by a common history will be deliberately sunk in the same place.

The new wrecks will attract many divers to the Algarve region. The largest ship of the reef will be the Hermenegildo Capelo F481 frigate (length of 102 meters), but the Oliveira e Carmo F489 corvette (85 meters), the Almeida de Carvalho A527 (64 meters) and the Zambeze P1147 (44 meters) were impressive ships as well. The Ocean Revival park is located 2 miles from the coast, so it's easily accessible by dive boats, and the maximum depth is 26-32 meters with a minimum of 15 meters water clearence. Because of the local conditions the wrecks can be dived year round. The divers can join a certified center where the gudies are trained to lead the dive on differents routes in a safe way.

The first two ships, the Oliveira e Carmo and the Zambeze were sunk in 2012, while the remaining two vessels will be sunk in 2013. Certainly before sinking the two Portuguese Navy ships had been cleaned, decontaminated and prepared, in a way that all safety conditions for the environment and for divers can be guaranteed.