The Saurian Dredge & Two Telfor Barges – Transect - Adelaide Scuba

The Saurian Dredge & 

Two Telfor Barges 

1881 - 1954 

1

Divemaster Candidates 

Joel Pringle 

Guy Richardson 

Dave Wallis 

Instructor 

Joshua D’Ambrosio 

2

Abstract 

This transect of the Saurian Dredge and its two Telfor designed barges, commonly known as the 

“Stanvac Barges”, was conducted during the Divemaster course undertaken by Joel Pringle, Guy 

Richardson and Dave Wallis (August - December 2010) under the supervision and instruction of PADI 

IDC Staff Instructor Josh D’Ambrosio. The transect will give an overview of the history, location, 

environment, marine life and dive procedures to dive the Saurian Dredge in a safe manner whilst 

ensuring that the diver gains the most from this historical site. 

A special thank you goes to Josh D’Ambrosio and the Adelaide Scuba team for all their time, 

expertise, patience and support. 

3

Contents 

Title Page Pg. 1 

Divemaster Candidates Pg. 2 

Instructor Pg. 2 

Abstract Pg. 3 

Contents Page Pg. 4 

Introduction Pg. 5 

Overview Pg. 5 

History Pg. 6 

Location Pg. 7 

Layout Pg. 8 

Detailed Map of the Saurian Pg. 9 

Topography Pg. 10 

Depth Pg. 10 

Points of Interest Pg. 10 

Points of Hazard Pg. 11 

Environment Awareness Pg. 12 

Bottom Composition Pg. 12 

Area Current, Current Movements and Visibility Pg. 12 

Marine Life Pg. 13- 16 

Dive Procedures and Techniques Pg. 17 

Emergency Assistance Plan (with maps) Pg. 17 -20 

Appendix Pg. 20 - 25 

References Pg. 26 

4

Introduction 

The Saurian and its two barges are locally known as the “Stanvac Barges” due to the location in 

which they were scuttled. Today they lie in an upright position on a predominantly sandy bottom, at an 

average depth of 28 meters. While the Saurian was scuttled almost 60 years ago, the hull of the vessel 

remains relatively intact and an excellent dive site. Together the barges also offer a good dive site, but 

have broken up over the years and are considerably more deteriorated. Today the “Stanvac Barges” 

have become an artificial reef on a baron sea floor and is now a haven for many different forms of 

marine life, which attracts many local fishermen and divers with an Advanced Open Water certification 

or higher. 

Overview 

On the 24 th of November 1954, the Department of Marine 

and Harbours scuttled an ex-dredge and two barges in the Gulf of 

St Vincent, north-west of the Port Noarlunga Jetty, approximately 

five kilometres offshore from the Port Stanvac Oil Refinery. The 

iron vessel known originally as No.16 Dredger was built in 1871 

and used as a dredging vessel. In 1929 it was condemned and 

converted for use as a coal carrier and was known as the Saurian. 

The Saurian has a bucket dredge hull and was 50 meters (164.0 

feet) in length, 9.2 meters (30.2 feet) in breadth and 3.6 meters 

(11.8 feet) in depth. It was accompanied by two metal barges that 

were used as coal loaders and were of the Telfor design. They 

were unnamed, but marked I and II. The barges measured 21.5 

meters (70.5 feet) in length, 15 meters (49.2 feet) width and 3.5 

meters (11.5 feet) in depth. 

The name Saurian comes from: 

Adjective 

1. Belonging or pertaining to the Sauria, a group of reptiles originally including the lizards, 

crocodiles, and several extinct forms but now technically restricted to the lizards. 

2. Resembling a lizard. 

Noun 

3. A saurian animal, as a dinosaur or lizard. 

5

History 

The Saurian No. 16 Dredger was built by the Firm of John Walker and Company (John Walker & 

Co. Ltd). John Walker & Co. Ltd was a foundry in Maryborough, Queensland and was closely associated 

with the sugar industry. The foundry was established in the later years of the nineteenth century. In 

early 1886 the firm were receiving the benefit of an extensive and effusive write-up in the Brisbane 

Courier published Wednesday the 12 th of May, occupying three columns penned by a ‘Traveling 

Reporter’. A much shorter write-up in the same newspaper, but equally effusive, was found on 

Monday the 14 th of February 1881. What follows is a summary of its contents: 

“Launch of the Queensland Government Dredge Saurian. The launch of this fine vessel, built by the Maryborough 

firm of John Walker and Company to the order of Queensland Government, took place from the shipyard attached to the 

Union Foundry in the above town on Saturday last. Admission to the yard was by cards of invitation of which some 500 or 

thereabouts must have been issued. The No. 16 Dredger (Saurian) is the sister ship of The Octopus (made by another firm). 

She is made with propelling as well as dredging machinery and is calculated to raise 200 tons per hour of silt from a depth 

of 30 feet (10 meters). At 10 precisely, a little girl of eight, a daughter of Mr. (William) Harrington, the managing partner of 

the firm, instructed by her parents, broke the traditional bottle of champagne against the bow.” Australia Postal History and 

Social Philately (2010) 

Below is a copy of the original invitation to the official launch of The Saurian Dredge. 

Figure 2: Back side of an invitation to 

attend the launch of the Saurian Dredger 

(right) 

6 

Figure 1: Front side of an invitation to 

attend the launch of the Sauiran 

Dredger (left) 

After a number of years being used as a dredging vessel, the Saurian was converted to be a coal 

carrier until it was condemned in 1929. It sat unused for several years until it was scuttled in 1954 

approximately 5 kilometres from the Port Stanvac Oil Refinery, some 25 years after being condemned.

Location 

The Saurian and the two barges were scuttled in the Gulf of St Vincent, north-west of the Port 

Noarlunga Jetty, approximately 5 kilometres offshore from the Port Stanvac Oil Refinery. Due to its 

location, the only way to dive this particular site is by boat. A boat launched from the O’Sullivan Beach 

boat ramp can reach the dive site between 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the boat size, weight, 

horsepower and conditions on the day. A boat dive leaving from Adelaide Scuba would take 

approximately 50 to 60 minutes to reach the dive site. The GPS location for the Stanvac Barges is as 

follows: 35:06:908 South, 138:24:656 East. 

Figure 3: Location of the Saurian and its two barges in relation to the O’Sullivan Beach boat ramp. 

7

Layout 

The Saurian lays on a North-East to South-West line (Figure 5), with the two smaller barges 

approximately 30 to 35 meters in a North-East direction from the Saurian approximately 8 to 10 

meters apart (Figure 6). The Saurian wreck is in relatively good condition; however this cannot be said 

for the two small barges, as they have begun to deteriorate over recent years. The location in which 

the vessels were scuttled left them in an upright position on a somewhat baron sandy floor which is 

relatively exposed to tidal movements. 

Figure 5: Saurian laying on a North-East to South-West line. 

Figure 6: Thermal image of the Saurian and the two barges indicating how far apart they wrecks are. 

8

Detailed Map of the Saurian (Figure 7) 

9

Topography 

The Saurian and its two barges are lying upright on the sea floor on a North-East to South-West 

line (Figure 5). As the wrecks are lying on sand, and there are no other wrecks or reefs around the 

Saurian, this area acts as a haven for marine life. However this also means that the wrecks are 

reasonably exposed. Should there be a strong tide or current whist diving, a diver would notice this 

water movement. 

Depth 

The Saurian and its two barges lie at an average depth of 28 

meters on the sea floor, however the deck of the Saurian lies at an 

average depth of 23.5 meters, while the decks of the barges are at 

an average depth of 23 meters. This depth however can change due 

to tides, with king tides having a huge impact on depth, and dodge 

tides having minimal effect. Should an individual ever dive the 

Saurian or its two barges, the tides should be checked as this will 

influence a divers bottom time. With a depth of 28 meters, the PADI 

Recreational Dive Planner (RDP) recommends that if this is your first 

dive for the day or 24 hours after your last dive and you are not 

performing a multilevel dive, that you do a dive with a bottom time 

not exceeding 23 minutes, staying within no decompression limits. 

This is an important factor to consider, as this is a deep dive site, 

precautions must be taken in order to prevent decompression 

diving, unless you are a certified decompression diver. 

Points of Interest 

The main point of interest on this dive site is the Saurian 

itself. Lying at 28 meters and being 50 meters long, an average 

diver would be able to make it from one end to the other and 

back again on a single dive, allowing the diver to gain a good 

overview of the wreck. The wreck is composed of sections that a 

diver can swim down into, with many slats going across the 

wreck from port to starboard. There are also many different 

forms of marine life that have come to live on the wreck, details 

of which can be seen in the Marine Life section of this transect 

on pg. 13 to 16. 

10

Points of Hazard 

Being a wreck, there are a number of hazards that are 

potentially dangerous to divers. There are areas of exposed 

metal that could be sharp therefore appropriate exposure suits 

should be worn with sturdy gloves to minimize this hazard. 

Divers may be interested in penetration and while there is not 

much opportunity for penetration (as the Saurian wreck is 

mostly an open hull, and the two barges offer no penetration 

at all) divers may be able to swim under the supporting beams 

that run from port to starboard. If divers were to do this they 

would not be able to directly access the surface in an 

emergency, and therefore if penetration is an interest for a diver, they should ensure that they have 

completed the PADI wreck diving specialty course. 

As this dive site is relatively exposed, the tides can 

have a strong effect on any diver diving the site. Should there 

be a strong tidal movement of either water moving out of the 

gulf, or water moving into the gulf, a diver no matter how 

experienced will notice it. This can result in a hazard as divers 

can get tired quickly if they swim against a current for too 

long, or it could move inexperienced divers off the wreck 

entirely. If there is a current on the day a diver dives this site, 

ensure that they swim against the current to begin the dive, 

and then swim with it to return to the anchor line. Or, if the 

current is only apparent on one side of the wreck, the diver 

should swim on the protected side for the majority of the dive. 

One of the last and most significant hazards is silt. 

While the wreck is reasonably open, if a diver should settle on 

the bottom or inside of the wreck, silt will defiantly rise. 

However if there is a strong tidal movement or current and 

water is moving around the wreck, the silt will most probably 

move elsewhere. Therefore the silt can settle much quicker 

when diving on the Saurian, as opposed to a silt-out on other 

wrecks. 

11

Environmental Awareness 

As the “Stanvac Barges” is a wreck diving site within 

South Australian and Australian waters it is protected by 

heritage laws preventing any diver or individual from 

salvaging any item that would be found naturally upon the 

wreck. There are also laws in place to prevent intentional 

negligence and dumping of any materials around the site. Due 

to an artificial reef that has formed, divers should be aware of 

marine organisms that use this site as a home. Divers should 

also be aware of the marine conditions around them whilst 

diving as these can change, and remain aware of the wreck 

and its components at all times to avoid accidents. 

Bottom Composition 

The Saurian and its two barges lie on a baron sandy floor, with no rocks or vegetation. This has 

led to the wreck forming an artificial reef. The sand around the outside of the wreck has the same 

parameters for sand at any dive site. If a diver was to settle on the bottom on the sandy floor next to 

any of the wrecks, the sand would be kicked up in some manner. If a diver was to settle on the inside 

of the wreck during penetration, this in turn would also result in silt being kicked up. However as the 

wreck is open, silt is often moved away by water movement from a tide or a current. 

Area Current Movement and Visibility 

As this site is exposed, the movement of water in and 

out of the Gulf of St Vincent can be quite apparent whilst diving. 

Other than this tidal movement, there are not usually any other 

forms of current that run around the wreck. These tidal 

movements can be checked using the Beauro of Meteorology 

(BOM) for South Australia, and should be checked before each 

dive. Visibility is often good at this site, averaging between 10 to 

12 meters. Weather conditions can have a serious impact on 

this dive site. If conditions are excellent visibility can increase up 

to 15 meters or if stormy, be reduced to a few meters. 

12

Marine Life 

As this is a remote wreck that has formed an artificial reef, there are a large and diverse 

number of marine organisms that can be found at this dive site. Not only can marine organisms be 

seen at the site, but they may also be spotted in transit from the boat launch location to the dive site. 

Different marine organisms that a diver may see include: 

13 

Biological Name: Chelmonops truncatus 

Common Name: Truncate Coralfish 

Average Size: 220mm 

Biological Name: Delphinus delphis 

Common Name: Common Dolphin 

Average Size: 2.5m 

Biological Name: Enoplosus armatus 

Common Name: Old Wife 

Average Size: 310mm

14 

Biological Name: Meuschenia hippocrepis 

Common Name: Brown Striped Leatherjacket 


Biological Name: Neophoca cinerea 

Common Name: Australian Sea Lion 

Average Size: 2.3m 

Biological Name: Neosebastes scorpaenoides 

Common Name: Common Gurnard Perch 


Biological Name: Parapercis haakei 

Common Name: Wavy Grub-fish 

Average Size: 110mm

Biological Name: Paraplesiops meleagris 

Common Name: Blue Devil 


Biological Name: Parupeneus signatus 

Common Name: Black Spotted Goat-fish 


Biological Name: Pempheris klunzingeri 

Common Name: Rough Bullseye 


Biological Name: Platycephalus fuscus 

Common Name: Sand Flathead 


15

16 

Biological Name: Sarcoptilus grandis 

Common Name: Sea Pen 


Biological Name: Tilodon sexfasciatus 

Common Name: Moonlighter 


Biological Name: Upeneichthys vlamingii 

Common Name: Blue Spotted Goat-fish 

Average Size: 350mm

Dive Procedures and Techniques 

When diving with Adelaide Scuba, one of the 

experienced skippers of either Phantom, Sea Horse or The 

Entertainer will undoubtedly be able to place the anchor 

right next to one of the wrecks. Should this be the case, 

when diving the Saurian or the two barges, it is often best 

to follow the anchor line down to the bottom. From this 

point, with relatively good visibility it should be 

reasonably easy to find the wreck(s). All the divers need 

to do it enjoy the dive, while remaining aware of their 

depth, bottom time and air consumption. Once a diver 

hits 100 BAR, a common turn-around point, they should 

ensure they are heading back to the anchor line, and 

ascend at a rate no faster than 18 meters per minute, as taught during the PADI Open Water course 

and enforced with the PADI Advanced Open Water course. At five meters a three minute safety stop 

should be taken as a precaution to eliminate any nitrogen that has accumulated over the dive in 

various body tissues. 

Emergency Action Plan 

The Stanvac Barge dive site is approximately 15.3 kilometers West of the O'Sullivan Beach Boat 

Ramp. Should there be a reason to transport an injured diver to land quickly the boat ramp is the best 

option to meet emergency medical services so the patient can be transferred to them. If there is not 

the urgency for the diver to return to land, other arrangements can be formulated with emergency 

medical services for a more optimal pick up location (i.e. boat moorings at a harbor). 

17

1. Steps to follow to recover the victim and prepare for transfer to land 

Recover the diver from the water if possible 

Call Emergency Services, depending on the situation this may be: 

DAN Asia Pacific, 

SA Seaside Rescue, Emergency Services 

Emergency Medical Services. 

If the patient needs to be transferred to emergency medical services on arrival at shore, call emergency medical 

services to arrange a suitable location to meet and give them an approximate estimated time of arrival (ETA) 

Perform Emergency First Response on the patient, administer oxygen if required (this will be required in almost all 

cases, this is a boat dive so there should be a DAN emergency oxygen kit on the boat) 

Position the patient on their left side, with their legs elevated 

Organize for someone to recover the patients dive gear if it was left in the ocean during victim recovery, but only if 

practical and not dangerous, the victims dive gear may be used by authorities to determine the cause of the dive 

accident/ incident 

Request the skipper of the vessel to recall all other divers that are still diving, (a recall method should have been 

discussed and fully understood by all divers during the dive brief) 

Once all divers/ individuals are on board, notify the skipper so that the boat can proceed to the location where 

emergency medical services are to be met. 

2. Steps to follow should there be the need for the patient to be retrieved by a helicopter 

Recover the diver from the water if possible 

Perform Emergency First Response on the patient, administer oxygen if required (this will be required in almost all 

cases, this is a boat dive so there should be a DAN emergency oxygen kit on the boat) 

Call Emergency Services, this will most likely be Rescue and or Emergency Services 

Notify Emergency Services of the current position; give longitude/ latitude or geographic references that will assist 

Emergency Services in finding you. 

Request the skipper of the vessel to recall all other divers that are still diving, (a recall method should have been 

discussed and fully understood by all divers during the dive brief) 

For helicopter rescue/ evac 

1. Prepare the boat for the helicopter pick up (secure any loose items, 

including heavy objects that may blow away and lower all tall 

objects) 

2. Boat and helicopter must communicate, via radio or third party 

3. Boat must make way at approximately 5 knots pointing into the 

wind 

4. Prepare the patient by putting a personal flotation device on them 

5. When both the boat and patient are ready, signal the helicopter to movie in. 

6. Helicopter pilot will maneuver the helicopter behind the boat. 

7. Allow the static line to touch the boat deck before grabbing it, this line will discharge a static shock that 

could be potentially life threatening. Do not tie this line onto the boat. 

8. Once the basket is lowered, load the patient into the basket and secure them, if there is room, send them 

with the oxygen bottle. 

9. If possible, ask the helicopter pilot (via radio) to fly as low as possible with the patient, as reduced pressure 

at altitude can worsen DCI by making bubbles expand. 

10. Signal to the helicopter that the patient is secure and that the helicopter can depart. 

18

Organize for someone to recover the patient's dive gear if it was left in the ocean during victim recovery, but only 

if practical and not dangerous, the victim's dive gear may be used by authorities to determine the cause of the 

dive accident/ incident 

Notify the skipper that all divers are on board so that the boat can proceed back to shore. 

3.Emergency phone numbers 

Police, Ambulance, Fire services landline - 000 

Police, Ambulance, Fire services mobile - 112 

Divers Alert Network - Australia (Asia Pacific) - 1800 088 200 

SA Seaside Rescue - (08) 8295 5062 or 

(08) 8295 5072 

Surf Lifesaving Assistance - 13 78 73 (13 SURF) 

Adelaide Scuba - (08) 8294 7744 

4. Script when calling emergency services 

EMS : Emergency services, fire police or ambulance? 

Diver : Ambulance please, we have a diver who is in need of urgent medical attention 

EMS : What is your location? 

Diver : Stanvac Barge, however we will be at the O'Sullivan Beach Boat Ramp in 

approximately 15 minutes. 

EMS : How is the diver injured? 

Diver : We suspect that the diver has (diver injury, e.g.: DCI), the diver is breathing, but non- 

responsive etc. 

EMS : OK, there is an ambulance currently en route to the O'Sullivan Beach Boat Ramp; they 

will meet you there when you arrive. What are your contact details 

Diver : You can contact me on 0412 345 678 or radio channel 74 

EMS : OK, I will pass this on to the ambulance crew. The ambulance will be there shortly. 

Diver : Thank you. 

5. Moving and transporting the injured diver 

While the boat is moving the victim should be in a safe and stable location. If it is safe to move 

the diver, (it is known that there are no neck, back or spine injuries etc. and all wounds have 

been addressed), an individual should find a device that could be used to carry or move the 

patient to the safe or stable location on the boat, such as a large beach towel. If there is 

nothing available, and it is safe to do so, carry the patient with another individual. It is also 

necessary to consider how the patient will be moved from the boat to land and eventually to an 

ambulance. This may require a board of some sort or a large beach towel. Assign an individual 

to find something on the boat that could be used to move the patient. 

19

6. Procedures for completing accident and incident reports - try to answer the following questions 

How did you become aware of the problem? 

Where was the victim (depth, location, etc)? 

What was the time in, and air tank pressure (BAR or PSI)? 

What was the time of the incident? 

Was any of the victims equipment out of place or unusual? 

How soon were you able to respond to the emergency? 

What did you do when you responded to the emergency situation? 

Were you able to identify the person you helped? 

What did you personally see happen? 

What first aid was administered? 

Was the victim responsive or unresponsive? 

Was the person breathing or not breathing? 

Was emergency oxygen necessary? 

Was EMS called? At what time? When did they respond? What action did you see EMS take? 

Was the victim's gear recovered? 

Note: Do not give any of your own personal subjective opinions and thoughts; only give objective 

facts as these will not be misleading. 

Appendix 

Pages 21 to 25 are supporting material that was used during the construction of this transect. 

This includes a preliminary layout for the transect, initial drawings of the Saurian, a computerised 

drawing of the Saurian and then a final drawing. 

20

References 

Australia Postal History and Social Philately (2010) 

John Walker & Co., Maryborough, QLD: Launch of ‘Saurian’ Dredge 

http://www.auspostalhistory.com/articles/1580.shtml 

Viewed: 18th August 2010 

Ben and Camera Photography - Adelaide and South Australian Dive Sites 

Stanvac Barges 

http://www.benandcamera.com/diving/adelaide-south-australian-dive-sites/stanvac-barges/ 

Viewed: 21st August 2010 

Department of Environment and Heritage - Ships graveyard of South Australia (2001) 

Saurian & Two Telfor Barges - Port Stanvac (Stanvac Barges) 

http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/heritage/ships_graveyards/pdfs/saurian.pdf 


Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Ships’ graveyards of South Australia (2010) 

Port Stanvac 

http://spatialinformationday.org.au/heritage/ships_graveyards/histories.html 


Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Ships’ graveyards of South Australia (2010) 

Locational Map 

http://spatialinformationday.org.au/heritage/ships_graveyards/location_map.html 


Dictionary.com (2010) 

Searched: Saurian 

www.dictionary.reference.com 

Viewed: 22 nd of August 2010 

History Trust of South Australia (2004) 

http://www.history.sa.gov.au/maritime/maritime.htm 

Viewed: 21 st of August 2010 

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The Saurian Dredge & Two Telfor Barges – Transect - Adelaide Scuba

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