Patrick Voorma

The very first recorded shipwreck off Durban, South Africa, was the Good Hope. She ran aground off The Bluff in 1685. Two years later the surviving crew and passengers had built a new ship which they named the Cuvier and they sailed to Cape Town. Not everyone has been so lucky. There are a total of 141 recorded ship wrecks off Durban.

With this rich history of wrecks off Durban, Patrick started researching the possibility of finding some of these wrecks. In the past 5 years Patrick has discovered a total of 10 wrecks which include the WW2 British Submarine HMS Otus, a WW1 submarine chaser, The USS Nahma and the ship on which Sir Winston Churchill escaped on after being captured by the Boers, The Umzimvubu. This is the story of the Ghost Fleet of Durban.

Patrick is an accomplished PADI Course Director and a Trimix Instructor Trainer on both OC and CCR. He has dived and discovered numerous deep wrecks off the South African coast, searched for Coelacanths in Jesser Canyon, Sodwana Bay and currently is a Territory Director for PADI.

2007 - 2024

Do you have any questions?

Write to us!