Shipwreck P 29 Patrol Boat

The P29,formerly Boltenhagen,started life in former East Germany.She is a Kondor -class boat designed and built on the Peenewerft,Wolgast,in East Germany in the 1960.With a length 52 meters and weighing 360 tons,these vessels were primarily intended as minesweepers,though several variants existed,used possibly in fisheries protection,border control or as part of the Germany Democratic Republic logistical fleet. In August 1997,after a three week voyage from Germany,the Armed Forces of Malta’s Maritime Squadron took delivery of their third Kondor vessel,the P29.When the ship arrived in Malta it was greeted by the family and friends of the crew.The Kondor vessel were the first war ship the AFM ever commissioned,and it was thanks to them that the Maritime Sqouadron was able to participate in naval exercises with other European fleets.From 1997 until 2004,when she was decommissioned,the P29 patrolled the coastal waters of the Maltese Islands,fulfilling her duties with search and rescue operations,fisheries protection duties and exercises:of course the naval exercises took her further a field into international water of the Mediterranean.In 2000 and 2001 yhe Kondors supported the prestigious Royal Malta Yacht Club’s Middle Sea Race off Lampedusa.In September 2005 the P29 was sold to the Malta Tourism Authority to be scuttled as an attraction for divers.She was cleaned and made environmmentally safe and was scuttled on the 14th August,2007,off Cirkewwa,buoyed and at a depth of 38m.