Open navigation
Topics > Heritage > Maritime heritage > Visiting shipwrecks > Ships' graveyards

Port Stanvac

In 1954 the ex-dredge Saurian and two Telfor barges were scuttled off-shore from the Port Stanvac Oil Refinery in Gulf St Vincent.

Today the three vessels (known locally as 'The Stanvac Barges') lie upright on the sandy bottom in approximately 27m of water. They form a north east to south west line, with the two smaller barges (north east) approximately 33m apart and the Saurian (south west) 100m further away. The wire rope used to tow them to the site can still be seen attached to the bollards on all three vessels.

The Saurian is still relatively intact but the two smaller barges have broken up to some extent. The vessels which form an artificial reef on an otherwise featureless bottom have become a haven for marine life.

Vessel name

Vessel type

Map

Saurian

iron bucket dredge

Link to map and additional information

Unnamed - now known as Stanvac Barges

iron Telfor barges (2)

Link to map and additional information


Click here to view form.

Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge and respect the Traditional Custodians whose ancestral lands we live and work upon and we pay our respects to their Elders past and present. We acknowledge and respect the deep spiritual connection and the relationship that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have to Country.

We also pay our respects to the cultural authority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their nations in South Australia, as well as those across Australia.

Seven sisters and the Coloured Stone by Dorcas Miller, a Mirning Woman from Koonibba, South Australia