Atago Maru Wreck
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The Atago Maru was originally built as a merchant ship in 1924, at Glasgow by Lithgows & Sons, and is one of the first diesel-engined Japanese registered ships. As a general cargo freighter for the Japanese, it operated between Kobe / Yokohama and the west coast of the USA and Canada after being put into service, until December 1942, it underwent emergency conversion to an oil tanker for wartime duty. By February 1943 the conversion was done, and in the following years it made runs carrying oil between South East Asian countries and Japan.
On 28 November 1944, while at anchor approximately a mile off of the Lutong refinery, Atago Maru was bombed and sunk by a USAAF 13th Air Force B-24 “Liberator” heavy bomber.
The wreck of Atago Maru lies in 46 feet of water, and originally much of the superstructure still visible above the surface. Over time, storms, waves and rust demolished the superstructure while the whole ship slowly settled into the seabed, leaving only its two masts visible above water. Even so, in 1981, the foremast fell, and subsequently the aft mast fell too, a few years later.
The wreck rests at the bottom of the sea listed to one side, and today is covered in corals and made home by various sea life, and also silt from the nearby Baram River. The bow and the superstructure remnants are still above the silt level.
The wreck is a popular dive site, about 20 minutes of boat ride from Miri. Diving visibility conditions vary from 20m to 40m, depending on weather and other factors. To tour the site there are dive operators in Miri that will make the arrangements.
In the 1920s, these were the years when the Miri field began to decline. Exploration was carried out further and further afield. In 1926 an exploratory team had gone as far as Padang Barawa between the Sungai Seria and Sungai Barawa. Not much attention was paid to their findings then, but now with the Miri field declining the old maps and charts were taken out and studied again.
Dynasty Hotel is strategically located right in the center of Miri. Within walking distance of leading shopping malls, government offices, banks and historical and modern places of interest and tourism spots. The airport is only a 15 minute drive away in clear traffic conditions.
In late December 1980, strong winds, torrential rain, and heavy swells in the seas, constant heavy rains caused water from the Miri River to overflow into Lutong.