Due to the popularity of our T-Shirts we make available at our resort we’ve decided to offer them to the general public. Anyone who has dived with in the past or just likes how they look can order these online and have them shipped to you anywhere in the world.

The cost of the shirts and sizes available are inside each picture, click on the image you’re interested in and find out more.

All shirts are available in multiple colors, however we stock only white and black.

for more information, you can contact us at info@bigbluetech.net

Reely Dark - 500 Baht

Recycle This - 500 Baht

Fish and Ships - 500 Baht

Shirt Front

Golf Shirt - 1000 Baht

Tech Hoodie - 2000 Baht

Ship Happens - 500 baht

Double Down - 500 baht

Report by Leigh Cunningham

On the 19th of September 2009 a team of British, German, Dutch and Lebanese technical divers set out on the quest to dive the HMS Victoria off the coast of Lebanon.

The re-named HMS Victoria was the flagship of the British fleet in the Mediterranean during that late part of the 19th century. Just off the coat of Lebanon, Admiral Tyron, at the helm of the Victoria, ordered a maneuver in coordination with the HMS Camperdown a few kilometers off the coast of Tripoli (Lebanon).Tragically, admiral Tyron had miscalculated the safe distance between the two mammoth battleships and a collision occurred. On June 22nd 1893 the HMS Camperdown struck the starboard side of the HMS Victoria, around the coal bunker area causing catastrophic damage, leading to the sinking of the Victoria approximately 5 kilometers off the shore of Tripoli, North from Beirut. Over 350 hands went down including the Admiral with the ship, in the short time it took HMS Victoriato sink. The propellers of the Victoria were still running as the ship plunged into the deep blue, ramming the ship vertically into the sea bed, where she lies today.

All logistics technical or otherwise for the expedition were provided and handled by Alain Sassine and Walid Noshie of The National Institute for Scuba Diving (NISD), Beirut, Lebanon. I led a team of eight divers who conducted six dives over six days. The initial dives were spent on the SS Lesbian, the Torpedo wreck and a very large Russian freighter. Depths varied between 45-67 meters over the initial dives, the team conducted bottom times ranging between 25 – 45 minutes with 90 -150 minute dive times, using trimix and EAN.  Back gases used twin 12 and 15 litre manifolded steel cylinders with Trimix 18/35, EANx32, EANx80, EANx50 and O2 in 12 liter single aluminum cylinders.Bell

The most impressive wreck dive aside from the Victoria was the SS Lesbian.  This large freighter was scuttled outside Beirut harbor in 67 meters of water. Five minutes from the Jetty and the NISD diving centre.

The Victoria itself was absolutely amazing! This is one of a few wrecks to be resting bow down, at a 90 degree angle. The bottom mix for the Victoria was Trimix 10/60, the intermediate mix was Trimix 18/35, with EANx32 and EANx80 for deco.

At approximately 55 meters the stern section with huge propellers and rudder come into view. This section was being constantly circled by a large school of Jacks. Neil Black, my buddy and I, continued down the middle of the deck to 112 meters. After passing the huge stern gun we continued to a lower level and saw stacks of intact crockery inside the wreck through holes in the deck. Due to respect for the dead and the Victoria being a military grave, we took nothing apart from some video footage. The wreck proved to be one of the greatest dives of my life. However, the depth of the wreck therefore requires precise planning and logistical support.

Many thanks to Alain and the dive trek team and all expedition members involved. We look forward to further exploration on the Victoria next year.

Due to the popularity of our T-Shirts we make available at our resort we’ve decided to offer them to the general public. Anyone who has dived with in the past or just likes how they look can order these online and have them shipped to you anywhere in the world.

The cost of the shirts and sizes available are inside each picture, click on the image you’re interested in and find out more.

All shirts are available in multiple colours, however we stock only white and black.

for more information, you can contact us at info@bigbluetech.net

Hollywood duo Josh Hartnett and Ben Affleck portrayed the American desire to avenge the infamous Pearl Harbour bombings playing two US pilots in Michael Bay’s hit 2001 epic.

But, the true devastation of the revenge attacks on Japanese forces in 1944 has been captured in one of the most ambitious underwater projects ever undertaken.

Secrets: A Japanese tank on the sunken deck of the the San Francisco Maru TX

Operation Hailstorm was two years in the making  - but on February 17, 1944, American forces blitzed the Chuuk Islands, in the south western region of the Pacific Ocean, sinking 70 Japanese ships, 270 aircraft and killing close to 3,000 people - though the official death toll has never been confirmed.

And commissioned by the BBCs Natural History Unit, a 30 strong team of divers, deep sea biologists and under water cameraman explored remotest depths of the Pacific to unravel some of the secrets behind the America’s revenge attacks.

Revenge attacks: Michael Pitts on the bow gun

‘We were pushing the boundaries, spending extra long periods as a visitor in an alien element’, presenter-explorer Kate Humble told the Sunday Mirror.

‘I’m not a brave person and I was nervous because every dive has its risks’.

Series producer Dale Templar said: “It was a true voyage of discovery.

Voyage of discovery: Presenter-explorer Kate Humble explores a reef

‘Most of the sites we explored had never been dived before.

‘The expedition undertook some of the deepest and most dangerous diving ever attempted by a TV crew.

Kate Humble admitted she was ‘nervous’ before the fact finding dives

Pushing boundaries: Team member Bob Cranston

‘But one of the most awe-inspiring sights was the graveyard of the Japanese fleet.

‘There were just so many ghosts down there.’

Pacific Abyss will be shown in three hour-long specials starting next Sunday on BBC1 at 8pm.

Ghosts: Mike de Gruy surfaces after a night dive

Awe-inspiring: Kate Humble explores the Betty Bomber TX