Sabotage of sunken C-130 plane in Aqaba 'outrageous, senseless' act

AMMAN — Marine conservationists on Wednesday expressed outrage over the sabotage of the sunken C-130 plane in the Gulf of Aqaba, demanding authorities to better control diving centres in the port city.

A phrase in Arabic that reads "for fencing off your farms" was written by unknown divers over the body of the sunken aircraft, probably last Saturday, Director General of the Royal Marine Conservation Society of Jordan (JREDS) Ehab Eid said on Wednesday.

"This is irresponsible and ignorant to say the least, this is an outrageous act of sabotage, an underestimation to the time, money and effort which all authorities invested in bringing a huge aircraft to Aqaba and to the complex logistics of drowning it; all to improve the marine ecosystem and the livelihoods of the city's people," Eid told The Jordan Times.

"If the persons responsible for this crime thought they were being funny, they should know that they proved to be senseless," he stressed.

The phrase "for fencing off your farms" is typically found on walls around the Kingdom, written as a form of random advertising by people who also provide their numbers to offer their services in fencing properties.

"The photo shows that the external body of the aircraft has been sabotaged, but those responsible for this violation also went inside the aircraft and degraded it," Eid said.

Authorities drowned the aircraft in November last year to create an artificial coral reef with the aim of providing tourists with more attractions to explore and provide new diving sites to reduce pressure on the existing diving sites in the Gulf of Aqaba.

“By writing on the body of the plane, the violators scrapped off the layer of sediments that formed over the past seven months. Corals rely on this layer of sediments to be able to cling on smooth steel surfaces. This violation has brought us back to square one,” the marine conservationist underscored, noting that coral reefs take a very long time to grow, only increasing by one centimetre per year.

The Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) said in previous remarks to The Jordan Times that the site was already showing positive signs for becoming a rich diving location in terms of the reefs and ecological system that is forming.

“We demand that ASEZA and Aqaba Diving Association exercise stronger monitoring over diving centres in Aqaba, many of which are unlicensed,” Eid said, noting that divers bear the moral obligation of reporting marine violations.

Thirteen kilometres of Aqaba’s coastline, which stretches over a total of 27 kilometres, are covered with globally diverse coral reefs, JREDS indicated, noting that 21 diving locations can be found for the exploration of diverse, colourful and unique coral reefs there.