Sankisan Maru
Medium freighter (4,752 t) anchored off Uman with a hold full of ammunition; on 17 Feb 1944 a fire set off a huge explosion that blew the stern away. The bow section is largely intact and draped in hard and soft corals with a mast reaching the surface; one hold is half full of machine-gun and rifle rounds, and others hold truck frames, aircraft engines and propellers. The stern lies in a crater at about 49 m. An easy, popular dive.
Facts
- Region: Chuuk (Truk) Lagoon – Micronesia
- Area: Uman & southern lagoon
- Depth: 3–30 m
- Level: intermediate
- Current: low
- Type: wreck
- Coordinates: 7.294, 151.866
- Highlights: soft coral, hard coral, ammunition, truck frames, aircraft engines, mast to surface
- 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.
- Tips: Loose ammunition in the hold is unstable – do not touch. Wrecks are war graves – look, photograph, take nothing. Some cargo (shells, mines, bombs) is unstable: do not touch it.