MAUNGANUI BAY

The Canterbury Wreck

HMNZS Canterbury was a Royal New Zealand Navy Leander Class Frigate.  In March 2005, after 34 years of service, she was decommissioned and put out to tender. 

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The Hapu joined forces with the local dive operators to form the Bay of Islands Canterbury Charitable Trust.  The purpose of the Trust was to bid for the ship and then sink her in Maunganui Bay to create an artificial reef for fishery restoration and as a diving attraction.

 

The bid was successful and the Canterbury was bought for a token $1.  The stripping, cleaning and prepping took six months and cost a further $600,000.  The ship was sunk in Maunganui Bay in November 2007.  Hapu, through community owned Te Rawhiti Enterprises Ltd (TREL), purchased the wreck in 2008 and the Trust was dissolved.  Today, the wreck is still owned by TREL on behalf of Hapu and the Te Rawhiti community.   

 

The Canterbury wreck sits upright in 36m of sheltered water.  The ship is 113.4m long, 13.1m wide and 7 decks high.  The highest part of the wreck is the top of the foremast at 14m.

 

Over the last 10 years, the growth of life on the wreck has been incredible to see.  It is now home to an abundance of fish, including kingfish, snapper, john dory and a resident school of sweep.  Invertebrate life is also prolific and includes crayfish, nudibranchs, sea cucumbers, anemones and sponges.