More than eight decades after the Hospital Ship ‘Po’ sank in Albania’s Vlora Bay, its rusting remains have become part of a busy underwater ecosystem. A new study has found the 134.98-metre wreck covered by dense biological communities, with fish, sponges, sea squirts and other marine life using its hard surfaces. The sighting was the first confirmed record in Vlora Bay since 1996. According to the research article published in Frontiers in Ocean Sustainability titled ‘ First assessments on marine geomorphology and bio-colonization through the study and survey of the wreck of the Hospital Ship “Po” along the Albanian coasts (Vlora Bay) ’ recorded the non-indigenous devil firefish and evidence of squid spawning around the wreck. Most strikingly, a critically endangered Mediterranean monk seal was photographed resting inside sheltered cavities of the ship in August 2023. Lying at depths of 33 to 37 metres within the Karaburun-Sazan Marine Protected Area, the wreck is now being studied not only as a remnant of wartime history but also as a structure that shapes local marine habitats and seabed conditions.
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