Non-profit association "Friends of the Sea - Burgas" launched its new project for the construction of the Underwater Park "St. Anastasia". The attractive site is located in the immediate vicinity of the island of the same name in the Burgas Bay.
The initiative is being implemented with the assistance of the Municipality of Burgas and the company "Dive Tech". "Burgas Shipyards", Maritime Administration, Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Water - Burgas, Ministry of Defense, National Security Service also participate in its implementation. Personal assistance for the implementation of the project was provided by the MP Eng. Petar Kanev.
The first exhibits, which are part of the park, were sunk yesterday to the bottom of the sea by volunteers of the association with the help of a floating crane "Antey". These are the GAZ-13 cars, better known as the "Seagull" and a radio relay station on a ZIL 157 chassis.
The goal is for the luxury retro limousine and the truck to help balance the ecological balance in the area at the bottom of the sea, but also to become an attraction for divers who visit the seaside town and its waters. The expectations are that in a short time the hulls of the machines will be covered with vegetation and mollusks and become a refuge for various types of marine life.
The vehicles are at a depth of about fifteen meters, near the place where an underwater chapel and a statue of St. Anastasia are located, provided by the company "Dive Tech". The event was coordinated with the Maritime Administration, the Burgas Regional Directorate of the Navy and other control bodies and was carried out in accordance with all legal regulations. For this purpose, the cars were secured, and their engines, tanks and running gear were thoroughly cleaned of traces of fuel and oil. The hulls were firmly attached to concrete structures to be positioned motionless on the sand.
Creating artificial reefs in the sea by immersing various old structures in the seas and oceans is a popular global practice, through which new habitats for life on the bottom are formed. Ship hulls, train cars and other objects suitable for safe stable positioning are often used for this purpose. Until recently, there was only one such underwater artificially created sea reef in Bulgaria - the ship "Pioneer", deliberately sunk near the Sozopol island of Sveti Ivan in 2008. Every year it is visited by hundreds of divers who have the opportunity to observe and photograph its interesting inhabitants.
An example of how the biodiversity of the seabed changes when conditions are created for its enrichment is the underwater chapel, which was placed on the seabed near the island in 2023. The area around it, which was once a bare sandy bottom, is now home to various species of fish, crabs and seahorses, and the wreck is gradually turning into a kind of oasis.
The newly created site will soon be marked on the diving map of the Southern Black Sea Coast, which the Friends of the Sea - Burgas Association recently developed and promoted.
The divers are calling on fishermen in the area, as well as owners and captains of boats, yachts, and jet skis, not to tie their vessels to the floating buoy, as sometimes happens. They explain that this is an easy way for the buoy to be damaged and torn away from the area where it needs to be. It is also undesirable to drop anchors there, which can damage underwater objects. On the other hand, if an anchor gets caught on one of them, it is very likely that it cannot be easily brought to the surface.
The official opening of the Underwater Park "St. Anastasia" is planned for June 14, 2025, when members of "Friends of the Sea - Burgas" and their guests will carry out the traditional annual cleaning of the seabed around the island. The association plans to sink several more objects to form a large artificial reef.
