Wreck - The Alkimos
The “Alkimos”
Freighter 7033 Tons - beached 1964
Location:
Lat. 31° 36′ S., Long. 115° 39′ E.
History
On a voyage from Jakarta to Bunbury, the Greek freighter struck a reef near Beagle Island (150 miles north of Fremantle) on March 20th 1963. The damaged vessel was salvaged 5 days later and towed to Fremantle for repairs.
On May 23rd 1963 the Alkimos was arrested in Fremantle for non- payment of debts relating to repairs. By May 30th the matter was resolved and the tug Pacific Reserve began to tow the vessel to Hong Kong for further repairs.
Only hours out of Fremantle the tow line parted during a severe gale and the Alkimos ran aground between Wreck Point and Eglinton Rocks 35 miles north of Perth.
Bad weather prevented the Pacific Reserve from salvaging the ship, so eventually it was decided to flood her holds an allow her to settle on the sandy sea bed. A caretaker was put aboard her and the Pacific Reserve returned to Hong Kong.
The Alkimos and her caretaker were left for several months and during this time a series of strange and bizarre events led to stories that the ship was haunted and was home to a resident ghost.
In January 1964 the tug Pacific Star arrived and finally pumped the vessel out and prepared to tow the ship back to Manila. However, the Pacific Star was arrested at sea on February 21 and escorted into Fremantle leaving the jinxed Alkimos in deep water.
On May 2nd the ship broke her anchor and again ran aground. Finally the vessel was sold to be scrapped at this location. In October 1969 a fire broke out while salvors were cutting her up and they were forced to swim to safety.
The hulk remains at this location today. Stories of ghosts and mysterious dogs barking have persisted and a scull identified as being remains of a swimmer drowned while attempting to swim from Perth to Rottnest Island was found some years ago inside the wreck.
Much has been written about the haunted ship and stories of ghosts have been traced back to her early days as a Liberty Ship during World War II.
Legendary commercial diver Jack Sue who worked on the wreck witnessed many of the bizarre, unexplained occurrences and at one stage he stayed on the vessel to investigate further. He remains convinced that there is merit in the stories and has vowed never again to work on the wreck.
The Wreck
Located in shallow water of 3 to 7 metres, the remains are substantial and can be seen for several miles. The huge hulk is now a 32-year old artificial reef and has been colonised by numerous sea creatures including many crayfish.
It has become a very popular site for fishermen. Wrecked at this site for over 32 years the vessel is now in a very dangerous and unstable condition. The wreckage of the submerged bow section is a popular dive site. However, extreme caution must be exercised when diving anywhere near this wreck as it is now breaking up.
Under no circumstances should diver penetration of the wreck be considered. The Alkimos presents an awesome spectacle above the water and is near some of our popular dive sites including Eglinton Rocks and Eglinton Caves.
Reef Charters Dive Boat takes approximately 20 minutes to reach the wreck from Mindarie Keys.
