Balsa Dianka

Dianka was a Brazilian-flagged steel barge without propulsion, built at the De Biesbosch shipyard in Dordrecht, Holland, and operated by the Port of Antonina. At 76.5 m long, with an 11.4 m beam and a displacement of 2,600 tonnes, this double-hulled barge had two cargo compartments with sliding hatch covers over the holds and was used to carry grain in the port of Antonina. Out of service for four years, it was donated, together with Espera 7, to the RAM Program (Recifes Artificiais Marinhos, Marine Artificial Reefs), run by the NGO Instituto ECOPLAN under the scientific coordination of the Centro de Estudos do Mar of UFPR. Before the sinking, the barges were cleaned of all waste and towed for three and a half hours to the site, off the coast of Paraná. Dianka was the second barge to be sunk, after Espera 7, and was placed 20 miles from Ilha de Itacolomi, where explosives set in the hull sent it down empty in less than 5 minutes.

Sunk on purpose to form an artificial reef, the barges serve as a substrate for local fauna and flora and protect the area from trawling. Dianka's sides were badly destroyed by bomb blasts from illegal fishermen, and only the bow and stern structures stand above the bottom. By 2008, both sides had already fallen inward and part of the stern had collapsed. Large fish such as grouper and barracuda shelter on this artificial reef. In the area of the Dianka and Espera 7 barges, passing fish known in Brazil as cavalas, peixes-galo and bicudas are seen, schools of the fish known locally as sardinha are frequent, as are the fish known locally as meros, and many schools of dozens of fish species can be found.