Sinking of the Tricolor: Getting to the bottom of the mystery
When underwater photographer Dharshana Jayawardena received an intriguing email from Olav Anders Rasting from Norway in May 2013, he was excited. In the email, Olav claimed that he was the great-grandson of Arthur Wold, the Captain of the ill-fated Norwegian ship MV Tricolor that sank off the west coast of Sri Lanka in 1931.
Dharshana diving to the Tricolor 2017 - Pic by diver Ramzi Reyal
“Olav had come across the website I founded (www.divesrilanka.com) and was eager to know if I had any information to offer about the ship steered by his great grand-dad,” recalls Dharshana who first dived to this wreck lying about 65 m deep about 15 km west of Beruwala in 2009.
The deepest known shipwreck found in our waters, Tricolor demands technically precise divers as the wreck is beyond what is called ‘recreational diving limit’ explains Dharshana.
Dharshana had dived to the doomed Norwegian vessel four more times since his maiden expedition in 2009. Early this year, he discovered a lot more ‘circumstantial evidence’ to confirm that, what is documented to be lying ‘nine miles off Barberyn off the coast of Sri Lanka’ is actually the Tricolor.
“Research indicated that the area referred to as Barberyn in certain literature is actually Beruwala and its last reported location was within a kilometre from the wreck,” he says.
Dharshana’s latest dive experience early this year not only enabled him to retrieve a Norwegian-made plate and locate the ship’s twin diesel engines, but also make a video recording of the site.
“In 2014 when I dived it the second time, I couldn’t find any strong evidence to establish the identity of the ship other than an empty bottle of wine which turned out to be a vintage Portugal port wine,” he smiles.
Tricolor sinking
The Hamburg-manufactured MV Tricolor which sank just six years after it was built, sailed at noon from the Colombo Port bound for Yokohama on January 5, 1931.
“The vessel is said to have carried a general cargo of over 825 tons including 48 tons that had come in from Hong Kong, Kobe, Yokohama and Moji which had just been loaded that morning.
A significant amount of dangerous chemicals had also been in it although there are no records as to the type of chemicals and where they were loaded,” explains Dharshana.
Although the chemicals are assumed to have played a part in the explosion on the ship, the exact reason still remains unknown.
Wreck of the MV Tricolor surrounded by fish. (Pix courtesy Olav Rasting and DharshanaJ ayawardena)
The incident is documented in Dharshana’s work, Ghosts of the Deep- Diving the Shipwrecks of Sri Lanka: ‘Suddenly there were loud explosion and the ship shuddered violently.
The explosions were so loud that, the crew of the French Steamer SS Porthos, which was a few kilometres away, actually heard it clearly and also saw the massive plume of smoke billowing out of the Tricolor immediately after the explosion.’
Wasting no time, the Captain of Porthos changed the course and headed towards the Tricolor to rescue the crew.
Although the French vessel could rescue 31 crew members and all ten passengers, five crew members tragically lost their lives including the 37-year-old Norwegian Captain of the ship Arthur Wold.
“It was later reported by the Captain of Porthos that Tricolor had sunk within five minutes after the explosion,” points out Dharshana. The sinking was reported in the Norwegian press the following day.
| The story of Capt. Arthur Wold as told by his great grandson | |
At the time of the disaster, Captain Arthur Wold was only 37 years and the father of three children; the twins- Per Wold and his sister Karin Wold (later Rasting) and Grethe. Karin’s son Pal Arthur Rasting too had a son who was Olav.Speaking to Sunday Times on-line, Olav who is a doctor says that his first e-mail to Dharshana, having come across his website was “a shot in the dark” and he simply couldn’t believe it when Dharshana responded. “My endless hours spent online searching for information about Tricolor were not in vain,” says Olav.  Olav Anders Rasting Although his father Pal Arthur Rasting tried to trace the official documents of the wreck incident inquiry during the 90s, he didn’t succeed says Olav who finally found three files in the Norwegian National Archives which contained detailed descriptions of the events leading to the sinking of the vessel. “It was also revealed that the ship company, WilhWilhelmsen had several ships under the Tricolor flag and the ship captained by my great grandfather was Tricolor 111.” According to the story Olav has grown up with, at the point of Captain Wold’s tragic end, he had plans of buying his own ship. “I’m not certain if this was only his dream or if he in fact was in the process of starting a new shipping company. In addition, one of the passengers who also went down with the ship was an old pharmacist, named Doxrud. According to some of the crew, my great grandfather was last seen attempting to rescue Doxrud, so he died fulfilling his duties as a captain.” The shipping company, as Olav points out, had been ‘very generous’ with his great grandmother who built a large house in Oslo and managed well financially. His grandmother Karin (who passed away in 2011) had been about ten years old at the time of the loss. “Although she did not speak much about the loss and how it affected her, I know that the family did not like the thought of their father’s last resting place being a dark, lonely shipwreck,” reflects Olav adding that those whose last remains lie deep in the ocean will find some comfort in the thriving fish life around the wreck, which Dharshana had documented! Captain Wold’s family has not shown any interest in the sea as his descendant explains. “I’ve done a few dives and got my basic diving certificate but that’s it,” says Olav who nevertheless yearns to ‘feel the wreck’ and see it with his own eyes and perhaps locate the ship’s bell which he calls as the ‘ultimate closure’ to the mystery. Deeply fascinated by the story which is both a part of his identity and also as a major life turning event for his family, Olav bemoans that the wreck is at a depth which requires extensive training and experience. “I’m starting to believe that the closest I will ever get is either to see the wreck through the lens of a camera mounted to an ROV, so that at least I could be at least 50 metres above the wreck or by using a pressure suit or a small submarine for which I would need to win a lottery first!”  Arthur Wold with his two children Karin (Olav’s grannny) and her twin brother Per
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