MV Rozi
A working tug. A tourist attraction. Now one of Malta's classic wreck dives.
The Rozi is small enough to understand in one dive, but deep enough that you still have to earn the time to explore it.
Resting upright on the sand off Ċirkewwa, the MV Rozi is a compact wreck at roughly 35 metres long. That scale gives the dive a particularly satisfying rhythm: a well-planned circuit can reveal the bow, bridge, mast, open engine-room area, stern and rudder in a single descent without the wreck ever feeling small or insubstantial.
What limits the dive is not the size of the wreck but the depth. The mast begins at around 20 metres, the deck sits close to 30 metres and the sand drops into the mid-30s. Add the swim from shore and the Rozi becomes a deceptively complete advanced wreck dive.
Dive profile
- Dive type
- Wreck and artificial reef
- Wreck length
- Approximately 35 metres
- Depth range
- Approximately 20-36 metres
- Distance from shore
- Approximately 150 metres
- Recommended level
- Advanced with suitable deep-diving experience
- Penetration
- Wreck-trained and equipped divers only
Three names before the seabed.
The Rozi spent more than three decades working above the surface before being deliberately sunk - not originally for divers, but for tourists looking at the ship through submarine windows.
Rossmore
Charles Hill & Sons built the steel tug in Bristol for Johnston Warren Lines of Liverpool. She entered service under the name Rossmore, working as a harbour and coastal tug.
Rossgarth
After being sold to Rea Towing Company, the tug was renamed Rossgarth. She continued working in Britain before another change of ownership brought her south.
Malta
The tug was acquired by Maltese owners and transferred to Malta, where she worked for Malta Ship Towage. In 1981 she was sold to Tug Malta and received the name that divers know today: Rozi.
The scuttling
After decommissioning, Captain Morgan Cruises bought the tug and scuttled her off Ċirkewwa as an underwater attraction for tourist submarine trips. The tours eventually ended; the wreck stayed.
A tugboat you can circle, not just visit.
The Rozi sits upright on a sandy bottom in roughly 34-36 metres of water. The wheelhouse roof is around the mid-20s, the deck is close to 30 metres and the mast rises to about 20 metres.
The classic silhouette
The bow faces out towards open water. Dropping slightly away from the hull gives the cleanest view back towards the ship, with the foredeck and superstructure rising behind it.
Bridge, mast and empty machinery spaces
The wheelhouse and mast create the wreck's most recognisable profile. Large openings lead towards the engine-room area, where the machinery was removed before the tug was scuttled.
Rudder without the propeller
The stern sits close to the reef side of the wreck. The propeller is absent, but the large rudder remains one of the most photogenic details, especially when viewed from just above the sand.
More reef than bare steel
Decades underwater have covered the tug in growth and turned its railings, pipes, openings and shaded spaces into habitat. The exact cast changes from dive to dive.
Use the Rozi's size to your advantage.
The wreck is compact enough for a full exterior circuit, but the swim from shore and the depth still shape the profile. Decide before entering whether the priority is the wreck itself, a wider Ċirkewwa route or an overhead-environment dive.
Classic Rozi circuit
The simplest way to understand the whole wreck.
- Enter from the appropriate Ċirkewwa shore entry and make the outward swim according to the team's briefing, navigation plan and prevailing conditions.
- Use the mast and wheelhouse as the first visual reference, then settle onto the upper structure before deciding whether to descend towards the deck and sand.
- Circle the exterior of the wreck, giving time to the bow, bridge, engine-room openings, stern and rudder rather than repeatedly changing depth.
- Leave the wreck with enough gas and no-decompression margin for the swim back to the reef and a controlled ascent.
Rozi + Ċirkewwa Arch
A wider route when conditions and the team's profile allow it.
- Agree before the dive whether the Rozi or the nearby arch is the primary objective. Do not treat the second site as an automatic extension.
- Complete the deeper portion of the dive first where appropriate, then use the reef and shallower terrain to shape the return profile.
- Continuously reassess gas, current, no-decompression time and navigation. Skip the second attraction if the original limits are being approached.
- Finish the dive using the planned Ċirkewwa exit rather than improvising a route at the end of a deep dive.
Penetration plan
Open-looking spaces are still overhead environments.
- Choose a specific internal route, entry, exit, maximum depth and turnaround pressure before leaving the surface.
- Use appropriate wreck training, guideline procedures, equipment and team gas planning rather than relying on the wreck's large openings.
- Expect darkness, silt, sharp metal, entanglement hazards and disorientation even in spaces that initially appear straightforward.
- Abort the penetration as soon as any part of the plan, equipment, team or environmental conditions stops matching the briefing.
The Rozi, frame by frame.
Views from around the wreck and some of the marine life encountered along the way. Tap any photograph for the full-size image, or swipe through the galleries on mobile.
MV Rozi
Four photos
Wildlife
Four photos
Dive reels
Four videosA wreck that makes sense as you move around it.
The Rozi gives you enough ship to explore properly in a single dive, while the depth keeps the wreck from ever feeling casual or forgiving.
The mast appears before the ship
In clear water the wreck does not arrive all at once. The mast and upper structure form first, suspended in the blue, before the wheelhouse, deck and hull sharpen into view below.
Because the tug is compact, the outline becomes understandable quickly. You can see where the bow ends, where the stern begins and how the superstructure sits between them.
Every side looks different
Above the deck, the Rozi feels like a small working ship frozen in place. Drop beside the bow and it becomes a proper wreck silhouette. Move behind the stern and the rudder turns into the focal point.
A full circuit is short enough to view the same structure from several angles without turning the dive into a long swim along the hull.
The wreck rewards a slower lap
The missing engine and propeller leave obvious signs of preparation before the scuttling, but decades of marine growth have softened the artificial origins of the site.
Pipes, railings, openings, the wheelhouse and shaded recesses give fish and invertebrates plenty of places to gather - and give divers reasons to stop instead of simply swimming around the perimeter.
Small wreck, full dive
The Rozi may be compact, but it still sits deep enough that time disappears quickly. Eventually the mast slides upwards and the wreck begins to fade beneath the team as the route turns back towards the reef.
That balance is what makes the site work so well: enough structure to feel complete, enough depth to demand discipline and enough marine life to make a second lap feel different from the first.