Ten award-winning photos have captured the eerie beauty of some of the most intriguing seabed wrecks on the planet.
A Sunken Passenger Plane
Like something from a sci-fi movie, Alvaro Herrero’s photo taken inside a submerged plane is otherworldly. To show the enormity of the scuttled Lockheed TriStar L-1011 that rests on the floor of the Red Sea in Jordan, he used a special cave photography technique to illuminate the silhouette of the diver swimming down the aisle.
“This is one of the wreck photographs that I had the most fun taking,” said Mr. Herrero, who was awarded “Highly Commended” for his spectacular work.
A Lamp Simulates a Powered Engine
Thanks to the efforts of German photographer Christian Horras who also won a “Highly Commended” title, we’re able to see the outside of the same Lockheed TriStar L-1011.
Speaking about his photo “Takeoff,” Mr. Horras said: “It is truly no ordinary wreck dive, as you don’t often see entire passenger planes on the bottom of the ocean!
A 20-Minute Deadline
In the same Red Sea location, Alvaro Herrero faced one of the biggest challenges of his dive photography career, when he had just 20 minutes to get a shot of a sunken attack helicopter before going into decompression. For his and his team’s risk-taking efforts, the resulting photo, “Bell AH-1F Cobra,” was awarded a “Commended” title.
‘Inside the SS Thistlegorm Wreck’
One of the planet’s most legendary wrecks, SS Thistlegorm is a British cargo steamship that was sunk by German bombers in Egypt’s Red Sea during World War II.
Swedish Photographer Alex Dawson, who was awarded “Highly Commended” for his haunting portrait of the sunken ship’s interior, “Inside the SS Thistlegorm wreck,” marveled at the vessel’s state of preservation.
A School of Fish Creates the Shape of a Boat Sail
Photographer Fabi Fregonesi was out exploring a dive site in waters surrounding his home country, Brazil, when he hit upon an amazing fish formation. The huge school of fish appeared to be “dancing” above a tugboat wreck known as “Virgo,” momentarily creating the shape of a sail. The photo scooped third place in the prestigious contest.
“The feeling I had at the time was that the ship was ready to set sail, beginning its journey towards an unknown adventure. I only had time to quickly imagine the photo I wanted, position myself, and capture this moment,” said Mr. Fregonesi, adding that seconds later, the fish formation vanished.
“Wreck photos are beautiful, mysterious, and generally make me feel nostalgic,” he said.
‘Illuminating the Past’
In the United States, Becky Kagan Schott took “Runner-Up” for her ghostly photo “Illuminating the Past,” depicting a wrecked boat in Lake Huron called Kyle Spangler. After six years of attempting to get the perfect shot of the wooden schooner that sank in 1860, she finally succeeded thanks to dark conditions.
Huge Bulk Carrier Broke in Half
Ms. Schott also captured a mystical portrait of S.S. Norman in the Great Lakes in her photo “Breaking Point.”
The massive bulk carrier sank in a collision on Lake Huron in 1895 when the vessel was hit with so much force that it broke in half.
According to Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, it took just three minutes for the 300-foot-long Norman and three crew to disappear beneath the waves of the cold, dark lake, where it now rests 210 feet deep.
‘Simply Audacious!
Photographer Kieran Hatton, who won a “Commended” title, credits the “legendary” visibility in the waters off of Donegal, Ireland, as one of the elements of his success.
One hundred and ninety-six feet below the surface rests HMS Audacious, the victim of a World War I mine. In his winning shot, Mr. Hatton captures the startling sight of two of the British Battleship’s powerful guns.
A Rescue Steamer Sunk in 1944
UK photographer Guilhem Duprat traveled to the majestic Norwegian fjords to take this precious image of the World War II wreck, the Parat, a rescue steamer sunk by Allied aircraft in 1944. Diving to a depth of 196 feet in the icy cold fjord at Krakhella, Mr. Duprat was able to show the iridescent beauty of marine life clinging to the vessel.
“The rock cliff, which you can just about make out to the right of the photo, is just raw rock, the sea bed is a total desert,” Mr. Duprat said. “But the wreck has become an oasis for these wonderful white anemones and orange worms, which against the brown-red of the rusted hull and the clear blue-green of the fjord water, makes for a spectacular sight.”
The Stunning Symmetry of the ChieftainTanks
The overall winner of the annual competition was American photographer Martin Broen for his arresting photograph of a pair of sunken tanks. Taken at Jordan’s underwater military museum just off the coast of Aqaba in the Red Sea, his prized image captures the symmetry of the chieftain tanks with their menacing guns and the presence of Mr. Broen’s dive buddy in the background.
Mr. Broen said: “Together with an amazing group of photographers, I had the honor to be invited to compete in the first Aqaba underwater photo competition in Jordan, where a highlight is the underwater military museum. An unusual sight of war machines.”
Aqaba’s dive site features the intriguing sight of a series of war machines, including a helicopter, an armored ambulance, and a Willys Jeep amongst others, sunk in the water and stationed along the reefs in tactical battle formation.
“In today’s troubled times, it is uplifting to see the apparatus of war put to peaceful use,” Mr. Rowlands said.
