Ojima
Tategami-class salvage tug (800 t, 1940) that went to help the burning Kikukawa Maru on 7 Oct 1943 and was blown in two when her cargo exploded, with many lives lost; two Daihatsu landing craft sank in the same blast. The two halves lie on the starboard side at about 37 m, each with a landing craft nearby, and only a hatch with anchors and cables, No. 2 hold and a mast are recognisable. Rarely dived because of the depth.
Facts
- Region: Chuuk (Truk) Lagoon – Micronesia
- Area: Fourth Fleet anchorage (east of Dublon)
- Depth: 37 m
- Level: advanced
- Current: low
- Type: wreck
- Coordinates: 7.373, 151.9065 (approximate)
- Highlights: salvage tug, landing craft, anchors
- Permit: A Chuuk State dive permit is required for every dive on the wartime wrecks (Chuuk Lagoon State Monument): US$50, valid one year, as listed by Odyssey Adventures, SS Thorfinn and the Blue Lagoon Dive Shop rate sheet (the older state-code text says US$30, so confirm when booking). Under the state code the permit is sold by the licensed dive shops/operators, who collect the fee for the state, and divers must go with a certified guide from a licensed shop. All Japanese ships and aircraft sunk before 31 Dec 1945 are protected monuments and war graves: taking or damaging anything is illegal (fine up to US$1,000 and/or six months in prison under the state code).
- Issuer / contact: Chuuk Visitors Bureau (CVB)
- Phone: +691 330-4133
- Email: executivedirector@visitchuuk.com
- Website: https://visitchuuk.com/contact-information
- CVB is the Chuuk State tourism office and is listed here as the official contact for visitor information; the permit itself is sold by the licensed dive operators (Chuuk State code Title 25 ch. 8, text at https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/mic79052.pdf). Operators (Thorfinn, Odyssey, Blue Lagoon) list US$50.
- Unverified: No published GPS: pin placed next to the Kikukawa Maru pin inside the Fourth Fleet anchorage (Pacific Wrecks says Eten Anchorage); the exact spot is not sourced. Depth is Pacific Wrecks' 120 ft.
- Tips: Deep (about 37 m) and rarely dived. Wrecks are war graves – look, photograph, take nothing. Some cargo (shells, mines, bombs) is unstable: do not touch it.