The MV Bianca C. was a passenger ship that sank on two occasions, the first time in France before being completed, and the second time after an explosion and fire off the island of Grenada.
History
Bianca C.
Built during World War II at the boatyard of
Arosa Line. She was refitted again and became the company's flagship. She was chartered by the exchange organization American Field Service to bring students between the U.S. and Europe. Within two years Arosa Line was forced to sell the ship to Costa Line, an Italian company also known as Linea C. After that 1959 sale, the ship was renamed the Bianca C. (the second Costa C ship so named) for one of the owner's daughters, and was refurbished once again. The Bianca C.'s main route ran from Italy to Venezuela, including stops in the Caribbean
.
Sinking
In October 1961, the ship was on a trip from
anchorage and would block the harbor if it sank there, so a Londonderry boarding party boarded the flaming ship to attach a towline. The anchor lines of the Bianca C. were burned, and today the anchors are still at the mouth of the St. George's harbor. Meanwhile, the Londonderry moved to tow the Bianca C., but the latter ship was listing to port. Thousands of Grenadians watched from the mountains as the tow progressed for six hours, but the Bianca C.. had only moved three miles (5 km) when a squall started and the towline broke. The Bianca C. sank quickly into 165 feet (50 m) of water, about a mile from the popular tourist beach at Grand Anse
.
Wreck
In the 1970s, a Trinidadian firm salvaged the Bianca C.'s propellers and sold them for scrap. As the top of the ship is in only about 100 feet (30 m) of water, scuba divers can reach it and in the late 1980s and early 1990s some removed parts of the boat for souvenirs. In late 1992, the rear third of the ship was torn off and the ship began to deteriorate quickly, though at 600 feet (180 m) in length it is still the region's largest shipwreck. A bronze statue of Christ of the Abyss was given by the Costa Line to Grenada in appreciation of the country's hospitality, and the statue stands in the Carenage surrounding the harbor at St. George's.
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France
