Enroute from Panama to Venezuela, this Colombian cargo ship reported mechanical problems, and sought refuge on the island of Bonaire. The Hilma Hooker was towed to the town pier and searched by customs officers. Behind a hidden bulkhead, the inspectors found 12 tons of marijuana.

Local dive operators called a meeting and started planning for the Hilma Hooker to be sunk as an artificial reef. Something they had been after for a long time. Bonaire divers were crying out for a wreck to complement the superb coral reefs surrounding the island.

The authorities were petitioned, but refused the request. The ship was needed as evidence in an impending drugs case. Furthermore, should the owner (who had yet to come forward) be found not guilty, the ship would have to be returned to him.

The Hilma Hooker sat slowly rotting, rusting and leaking alongside the pier. The ship's pumps just about keeping up with the ingress of water. The search for the ship's owner was not getting anywhere and the Hilma Hooker was still officially impounded evidence.

Keeping the Hilma Hooker impounded was costing public money. It was also getting in the way of other ships coming in to the pier. The harbourmaster was starting to worry about the risk of it sinking at its moorings and causing a much more expensive obstruction of the harbour. Normally a ship's owner would be billed for the expense of maintaining a ship in the harbour, but, not surprisingly, the Hilma Hooker's owner had yet to come forward and offer to pay the harbour bills.

The Bonaire authotities decided to anchor the Hilma Hooker offshore without any crew and leave it to its own devices. After all, it was up to the owner to make arrangements to keep it ship-shape and afloat. Naturally the local dive operators and Bonaire Marine Park officials were consulted as to suitable anchorage locations.

The fuel tanks were emptied, but because the Hilma Hooker was still evidence in a drugs case, nothing else on the ship was touched; beds, cabinets, carpets and curtains remained in the crew's quarters. Tools remained in the engine room. Electrical cabling remained installed -- Items that would have been cleaned out of a more typical artificial reef project.

And so it came to pass that on September 7th 1984 the Hilma Hooker was towed south from the town pier and anchored on the sand gully between a double reef towards the south of the island. A slight list to starboard soon became noticeable. Only 5 days later on September 12th, just after 9 am, the list increased to the point that water gushed across the deck and the Hilma Hooker sank to the seabed.

The Hilma Hooker is probably the most popular dive site in Bonaire - thousands come every year to dive it. By 10am there are dozens of pickup trucks on the beach, and several boats moored above the wreck. Underwater, the hull bubbles with dozens of silvery garlands of air streaming up to the surface. Small groups of divers cross every which way in the slipway.

Show up early in the morning, before the crowds arrive, and you can peacefully enjoy the splendor of the fish that inhabit this underwater condominium.

Near the steering wheel, you'll see parrotfish, groupers, snappers and wrasses. But most exceptionally, you'll see the glittery tarpons that patrol the sides of the freighter and then disappear into the shadows.