Sussex is a Wildcat 36 catamaran, launched in 2006 and built by Safehaven Marine in Cork, Southern Ireland. Designed for both speed and stability, she’s powered by twin Yanmar 370hp engines, delivering a combined 740hp for fast and reliable passage to dive sites. With a displacement of 9,500kg, she reaches a top speed of 28 knots and cruises with ease and comfort in the mid-20s.
Fit out and equipment levels are to an exceptionally high standard for a commercial vessel, featuring luxurious accommodation with Corian interior finishes and teak-finished cabin soles. Sleeping arrangements include twin bunk berths in the port hull cabin and a large main berth spanning the bridge deck and starboard hull, offering both comfort and privacy. Her wide beam creates a spacious main cabin, complete with a full galley, dinette, and ample passenger seating.
Onboard facilities include:
- Hydraulic lift for easy diver recovery and wheelchair access onto the vessel
- Backup boarding ladder
- 10 metres of bench seating for comfort and kit storage
- Toilet
- Fully equipped galley with oven, fridge (perfect for cold drinks), and sink
For relaxation, Sussex is equipped with a satellite receiver for offshore TV reception, displayed on an LCD screen in the wheelhouse. She also boasts a high-spec electronic fit-out, with triple navigation screens featuring Simrad’s advanced navigation systems and a custom overhead console for engine instrumentation—making her one of the most sophisticated charter vessels in her class.
Spacious, stable, and exceptionally well-equipped, Sussex offers everything divers need for a safe, comfortable, and enjoyable day at sea.
Equipment
Sussexshipwrecks are continuously looking at ways to improve navigational equipment to provide repeatability of wreck location for shot positioning and drift fishing. When Sussex was built the electronics package included a high end Simrad navigation system, Scientific Transducer and Olex Seabed Mapping Software.
In 2016 the highest mapping resolution we could achieve was 5m x 5m as GPS had at best an accuracy of 3m. Sussex has recently undergone a navigational upgrade and can now achieve a resolution of 1m x1m with the addition of a GPS Compass which provides 1m accuracy 95% of the time.
The plot is viewed from surface level, looking North up the slope out of the shipping lane, in the foreground SS Emerald with the Caleb Sprague to the right. The SS Glenartney is the wreck above the Emerald on the top of the slope.