The Zenobia was a Swedish RoRo ferry that was built in 1979 in the Kockums shipyard in Malmö and delivered to the AB Nordö shipping company. As the flagship of the so-called "Challenger" class, it was to serve the ferry traffic between Koper (today's Slovenia) via Volos (Greece) to Tartous (Syria). Her maiden voyage started on May 4, 1980, from Sweden, on May 22, 1980, Zenobia passed the Strait of Gibraltar and entered the Mediterranean. On June 2, 1980, the Zenobia was loaded with more than 100 trucks on the way to Syria when an increasing list on the port side was found. Although a team of technicians managed to reduce the list on the side in the meantime, a heeling of 40 ° occurred again just before Larnaca (Cyprus).

There is no official explanation for this error. There was probably a defect in the automatic ballast tank system, which should actually compensate for a heeling of the ship by filling the mutual ballast tanks with seawater. It is conjectured that this system was incorrectly programmed in the Zenobia and filled the equilateral ballast tanks so that the list increased more and more. When the heavy cargo slipped, the ship could not be saved. It was towed from the port of Larnaca and sank on June 7, 1980, at around 2:00 a.m. around 1,500 m from the port at position 34 ° 53 ′ 21 ″ N, 33 ° 39 ′ 2 ″ E on the port side. All passengers and crew members could be evacuated in time so that no people were killed.

The Zenobia is now a popular wreck among divers. With a length of 172 m and a width of 23 m, it is the largest diveable wreck in the Mediterranean and can be dived well for divers with different training levels. It is considered one of the TopTen wrecks worldwide because the visibility is usually very good (around 15 m), the water temperatures are mild (in summer at 30 m depth around 20 ° C) and the current is usually low. The Zenobia lies on the port side on a sandbar at a depth of 43 m. The starboard sidewall can be reached at a depth of around 18 m. Depending on the skill level, advanced divers have the opportunity to penetrate the wreck of the Zenobia. In the past, self-overestimation has repeatedly led to accidents in which divers died. (Source Wikipedia)