Australian Wreck (SS De Klerk)
Steam-powered ship lying on her port side at a steep tilt (about 35 m on the seabed, high side about 24-25 m) with a large blast hole in the starboard side. Long thought to have been sunk by the Royal Australian Air Force, she has been identified as the Dutch SS De Klerk (scuttled by the Dutch in 1942, salvaged and renamed Imabari Maru by the Japanese) and hit a mine in 1944 about 23 km southwest of Labuan; about 339 people, mostly labourers and prisoners of war, died. Treat her as a war grave. The skeletal frame is covered in coral and attracts plenty of fish.
Facts
- Region: Labuan wrecks – Malaysia
- Area: Labuan wrecks (southwest of Labuan)
- Depth: 24–35 m
- Level: advanced
- Current: low
- Type: wreck
- Coordinates: 5.139167, 115.087333
- Highlights: sweetlips, nudibranch, scorpionfish, moray, sponge, hard coral
- Permit: The four wrecks lie in zones gazetted as heritage protection areas by the National Heritage Department (reported as protected since 2011); operators obtained special approval to run dives, so dive only with a licensed Labuan operator. Labuan Marine Park fee for non-Malaysians reportedly RM 30 per person (usually quoted separately by operators; confirm when booking). Removing artefacts is not allowed.
- Issuer / contact: Jabatan Warisan Negara (National Heritage Department) / Labuan Marine Park (Department of Fisheries) – no official contact found by this research
- Tips: Deep dive (about 35 m): Advanced Open Water/deep certification advised. Easy to enter but rust-out is a risk. Visibility only 5-15 m. Sources give 21-35 m depth: confirm with the operator.