ABU MOOSA
Protected Area
Labrador Nature Reserve
Why dive here
With 263+ marine species recorded in the area - including blue-spotted stingrays, dugongs, giant moray eels, seahorses and sea turtles - ABU MOOSA offers some of Southern Islands's richest wreck diving. Water sits around 28°C.
Abu Moosa is one of those Singapore wrecks that still feels like a proper mystery, even after all these years. This tug went down in 1989, and while it's officially classified as "dangerous" (which often just means it’s a bit of a scramble), we find it’s more exciting than alarming. You'll hit the deck around 25 metres. Visibility here can be a bit of a lottery; sometimes you get 8 metres, other times it’s more like 2, but that just adds to the adventure, right? What we love about Abu Moosa is the sheer scale of the thing. It’s upright and largely intact, providing plenty of nooks and crannies to poke your head into, assuming your buoyancy is dialled in. We’ve spent dives tracing the lines of the superstructure, imagining it as it was. Look out for the resident batfish; they're usually schooling off the bow. On a good day, with a bit of ambient light, the way the schools of snapper weave through the holds is quite something. It’s a dive for those who enjoy exploration and don't mind a bit of a challenge in lower vis. Go during slack tide for the best chance of a relaxed penetration.
Typical ABU MOOSA Dive Profile
Illustrative profile based on site depth and type. Actual dive profiles vary - always follow your dive computer and training.
Safety Notes
Depth of 25m - Advanced Open Water certification recommended.
Wreck site - avoid penetration without wreck diving certification. Watch for sharp metal and entanglement hazards.
Always perform a 3-minute safety stop at 5m before surfacing.
ABU MOOSA Wreck History
Year Sunk
1989
Vessel Type
tugboat
Cause
unknown
The Abu Moosa is a ghost wreck in the busy shipping lanes of Singapore. The tugboat, owned by Chuan Hup, sank for unknown reasons on January 13, 1989, in the waters around the Southern Islands. Despite salvage operators being appointed on a 'no cure-no pay' basis, the vessel was never successfully refloated and its exact location remains unconfirmed.
Designated as a 'Dangerous Wreck', the Abu Moosa poses a potential hazard to navigation in one of the world's most congested maritime corridors. For the diving community, it is not an accessible site but a tantalizing mystery. Its story serves as a reminder of the countless vessels that lie undiscovered on the seabed, silent monuments to maritime incidents, waiting for the day they might be found by future generations of underwater explorers.
Nearest Dive Centres to ABU MOOSA
Dive shops near ABU MOOSA
OrcaNation Singapore
Resorts World at Sentosa Pte Ltd
Scuba Quest Pte Ltd
REN Scubaworx
DiveLab
S.E.A
Reviews for ABU MOOSA
Conditions
Ocean conditions, forecast and tides for ABU MOOSA
ABU MOOSA Ocean Conditions
Monthly averages for ABU MOOSA, sourced from NOAA buoy data - nearest station: Open-Meteo grid (1.2, 103.77) (0km away)
August Averages
Sea Temperature
28.23°C
83°F
Air Temperature
27.23°C
81°F
Wind Speed
4.55 m/s
8.8 knots
Atmospheric Pressure
1009.8 hPa
Based on 5 years of monitoring data · Data sources: NOAA NDBC
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