AH-WR-0746

Antares

Freighter · Panama · Lost 1993 · The Gulf of Mexico

A stranded Panamanian freighter turned Pensacola artificial reef, later torn apart and scattered across the seabed by Hurricane Opal.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Antares was a 387-foot Panamanian-flagged freighter detained by the U.S. Coast Guard as an environmental hazard after a 1993 flooding incident near Mobile. When cleanup costs went unpaid, she was scuttled off Pensacola as an artificial reef in September 1993. Just weeks later, Hurricane Opal struck the coast and broke the hull into pieces, scattering wreckage across a wide debris field that divers still explore today.

Vessel

Built: Not established
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Steel
Length: 387 ft
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Diesel, single screw
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: September 27, 1993
Cause: Intentional sinking
Location: About 21 nautical miles ESE of Pensacola Pass, Gulf of Mexico
Water: Gulf of Mexico
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 70-140
Condition: Broken and scattered by Hurricane Opal in 1995; stern section largely intact
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Part of Florida's state artificial reef program