BROTHERS WRECK SPECIAL
The
Egyptian Red Sea is a hybrid of numerous different wrecks, on a par
with Truck Lagoon and Scapa Flow there is so much to offer, both
old and new. There is enough variety to satisfy both the casual wreck
diver and the wreck enthusiast. Wrecks range in age from Roman times
right up to ships that have gone down in more recent years. Our Get
Wrecked Itinerary solely focuses on the wrecks that
the Northern Red Sea have to offer. Departing from Sharm el Shiekh
all of our liveaboards Typhoon, Whirlwind and Cyclone do this itinerary.
It is advisable that divers have at least 30 dives and have an Advanced
certification or the equivalent of.
There are a great deal or wrecks accessible from sharm and here is
a list of what you will cover (weather permitting) when you do a
Brothers Wreck Special itinerary:
Thistlegorms, Kingston, Rosalie Moller, Shag Rock, Ulysses,
Ghiannis D, Carnaric, Chrsoula K, Marcus, Dunraven, and shark and
yolanda. Plus the 2 wrecks at big brother
SS Thistlegorm
The
world famous Thistlegorm wreck sunk in 1941 in the area
of Sha'ab Ali in the Gulf of Suez. She was packed to the gunwales
with a cargo of supplies destined for the British Army based
in Alexandria, however she was bombed by the Germans on her way to
port. She is in good condition where much of the cargo still remains.
Time seems to have stood still for this impressive wreck. BSA Motorcycles,
jeeps, trucks, rolling stock, areoplane parts, stacks of rifles,
radio equipment and a plentiful supply of wellington boots are still
in pristine conditions. Located at 30m and 400 ft long she requires
several dives to experience the monumental ship. The Thistlegorm
is heaven for wreck enthusiasts with so much to see and so much history
attached to the ship. Along with the beauty of the wreck there it
is also one of the most underrated fish dives in the area, attracting
schooling barracuda and providing a hunting ground for giant tuna
and snapper. An excellent ship wreck that is a must see in the Red
Sea. The Thistlegorm requires some level of experience beyond open
water training. more...
Abu Nuhas
The reef of Abu Nuhas lies 3 hours away due north on the edges of
the Suez Canal and over the centuries has claimed the lives of
dozens of vessels. There are 4 wrecks which are dived regularly
lying against her northerly edge.
The Giannis D
Launched in 1969 as the Shoyo Maru, the Giannis D was built by the
Kuryshima Dock Company of Imabari, Japan. In April 1983 on a trip
to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia with a cargo of teak planks, thinking that
there was nothing but the Red Sea to traverse, the captain fell asleep
in his cabin after ordering 'full speed ahead'. He had, however,
not reckoned on Abu Nuhas and it was not long before he was very
rudely awoken by the sound of the ship being driven hard onto the
north west corner of the reef. Today she is broken in 3 pieces, the
bow by itself, parts of the midships with teak planks scattered around
and lastly, the intact stern of the ship which really makes the dive.
Full of rooms and passageways that run off at strange angles as she
is lying at 45 degrees at the base of the reef. A well mangled prop
marks the deepest point at 23 meters. more...
The Chrisoula K
A 'General Cargo Vessel' of 3,720 tones, the ship was built in the
German Baltic port of Lubeck and launched in 1954. Lloyd's List for
September 1981 included the following item under "Casualty Report": "Chrisoula
K (Greek). Suez, Aug 31 - MV Chrisoula K, ran aground yesterday in
the Red Sea, sustaining serious damage but no casualties, shipping
sources said today. The vessel hit coral reefs near the Egyptian
naval base at Ras Banas. Rescue units from the naval base picked
up the 21 member crew unscathed and took them to Suez. The vessel,
carrying floor tiles from Italy, was on her way to Jeddah. The seriously
damaged vessel was considered a total loss". Just like the Giannis
D a few years later, the captain had fallen asleep on a trip to Jeddah
after thinking he had cleared any danger after exiting the Suez Canal,
only to be rudely awakened as the ship went full steam onto the reef.
Today the front half is very broken up and scattered through wave
action, as a considerable part of the front end rode up and onto
the reef. The stern section is good for penetration but seems a little
unstable and with large waves above you, there is a lot of creaking
and movement from within. more...
The Carnatic
The Peninsula & Oriental Passenger Steamer "Carnatic" was
built by Samuda Bros of London and classified as an 'iron framed
planked passenger steamer of 1776 tons'. Her dimensions were 89.8m
x 11.6m with a draught of 7.8m. In addition to square-rigged sails,
she was powered by a single 4 cylinder compound inverted engine which
produced a very handsome 2,442 hp. In September of 1869 she gently
struck the reef but did not sink immediately, in fact the captain
and the 210 passengers and crew spent the night on board as no one
believed that a steel hulled ship, sitting gently on a coral reef,
would be in too much trouble. After 36 hours on the reef though,
due to the pivoting of the boat with the rise and fall of the waves
causing stresses on the keel, she snapped in half with the stern
sliding off the reef taking 5 passengers and 26 crew with it. The
aft followed shortly afterwards and diving the wreck today you can
see that the two halves have seemingly joined up again underwater.
She lies on her port side in 30 meters of water. A great wreck
with plenty to see including her single prop, masts, square portholes
and lots of broken wine bottles in the bottom of the hold in the
aft section. more...
Rosalie
Moller
In the early hours of Oct 8th 1941, just two days after the Thistlegorm
she was sunk by German aircraft bombers. She was on her way to Alexandria
with a cargo of coal.
This wreck lies in the channel north of Gubal island and is a dive
that is suited for the more experienced divers. Visibility can
be reduced compared to the surrounding Red Sea and there are some
very strong currents. She is a fairly deep wreck starting at 17m
going down to 50m. The wreck is in pristine condition and is home
to prolific fish life along with a magnificent array of hard and
soft corals. She is covered in thousands of glass fish. Weather permitting
she is a fantastic wreck to dive. more...
Dunraven
The Dunraven was an English ship
on her way from Bombay to Newcastle when she struck the reef on the
25th April 1876. She was carrying with her timber, spices and cotton.
The hull lies upside down at 25m and is completely covered in corals.
It is easy to penetrate the wreck in the ships cargo hold. The wreck
after all these years gives you an incredible feeling of stepping
back in time with stacks of ropes and wooden ladders. Fish life on
the wreck is exceptional. From bow to stern a vast number of glass
fish cover the boat. There are also large numbers of groupers, jackfish,
tuna, scorpion fish and crocodile fish around the hull. If your lucky
you can see the sword fish that congregate around the stern. more...
Big Brother
When
diving big brother you can combine magnificent wall diving along
with some superb wreck dives. At 400 m in length the island needs
a few dives to cover the area. It is easy to get lost in the shark
action where frequent sightings of Grey Reefs, Hammerheads, Threshers,
silver tips and white tips all feed off the smaller reef fish.
The walls are covered in stunning soft coral, anemone and hard
corals. There are often barracuda's, jacks and tuna's as well as
the large Napoleon Wrasse.
Namibia.
The British cargo ship Numidia was built in Glasgow in early 1901.
A relatively large vessel, she displaced 6,399 gross registered tons
and was powered by a 3 cylinder triple expansion steam engine capable
of providing a top speed of 10 Knots. She was 137.4m long, 16.7m
wide and had a draught of 9.2m. Early 1901 saw her complete
a maiden voyage to Calcutta and back; unfortunately this was to be
her only full trip. Mid 1901 she was again on her way down
to British colonies in the Far East. She was carrying 7000
tonnes of cargo and a crew of 97.
At 1am on the 20th of July the light on Big Brothers
island was sighted off the port bow. Observing the bearing, the Captain
altered course again and informed the "officer of the watch" this
would take the ship over one mile to the west of the Island. He then
left the Bridge leaving instructions to be called when the Light
was abeam. At about 2.10am the Master was awoken by the shock of
his ship crashing onto rocks. Hurrying to the bridge, he found his
ship hard aground on Big Brothers Island - almost directly below
the Lighthouse!
After two hours of trying to get off the rocks the engines were stopped.
By this time the ship was taking on considerable water although the
pumps were coping. At 7.30am dispatches were sent to Suez for urgent
assistance and most of the crew were landed on the Island. Other
vessels then arrived and every effort was made to refloat the Numidia
without success. Eventually realising his vessel was lost, the Master
allowed his crew to be rescued - although he remained on the island
for a further 7 weeks - during which he supervised the salvage of
most of the cargo before the Numidia finally sank.
The Numidia slid back off the tip of the North Plateau. It is sitting
almost vertically with its stern resting on a narrow step, being
the only thing keeping it from sliding into the abyss. It is a zodiac
drop, usually directly on top of the wreck. Often the first
thing a diver notices as he descends is a large pair of rolling stock
wheels, part of a large proportion of the cargo going out to service
the railway building projects in India. These are in amongst
the broken up bow section at a depth of 10m. From there it
is a short swim along, or in this case, down to the main superstructure. This
is the most interesting part of the wreck with engine rooms, lifeboat
davit arms, corridors, open engine room hatches. It is an easy
wreck to penetrate with many entry and exit points. Keeping
in mind that the ship was well salvaged before it sank there are
not many items left in the many rooms and cabins down either side. It
is worth getting down into the engine room to see the piles of coal
still stacked up against the boilers as if a stoker is going to come
along any minute and fire up that huge engine which has sat silent
for over 100 years.
At a depth of 40m is the midships hold. This looms as a huge
black hole disappearing into the bowels of the ship. Beyond
this the main mast rises from the deck at a depth of 52m and this
is the limit for recreational divers. It is possible with correct
equipment to explore down to the back handrail at a depth of 80m.
Many divers rate the Thistlegorm as the best wreck in the world,
usually due to the incredible historical artifacts still in her holds. But
if wrecks were to be scored on coral and fish life alone, the Numidia
must be up near the top of the list. 100 years of sitting in
current has encouraged an incredible profusion of life to grow all
over her. An amazing dive, even if sometimes a fight against
the current to actually stay on the wreck is necessary!
The Aida
Literally 50m or so around the corner from the wreck of the Numidia
another ship met its demise in the rough seas that are common around
the Brothers.
The Aida was built in France and launched in 1911. She displaced
1,428 gross registered tonnes and was powered by a single 3 Cylinder
triple expansion engine capable of providing a top speed of 9 Knots.
Her dimensions were; 75.1m x 9.7m with a draught of 7m.
On the sheltered south-east facing coast of Big Brothers Island,
is an old jetty used by the Egyptian soldiers stationed on the island
for up to two months at a time. Naturally, they require a constant
re-supply of fresh water and provisions in addition to a changeover
of personnel every so often.
On 15 September 1957, the Captain of the Aïda was tasked to
exchange military personnel on Big Brothers Island. There were heavy
storms that day and it would seem that, despite the sea state, he
still decided to go ahead - and in so doing he struck the rocks.
Almost immediately, the Aïda began to sink and the Captain had
little option but to abandon ship.
A Tugboat responded immediately and took off 77 personnel with the
remainder, including the Captain, all getting safely to shore. In
the meantime, the Aïda drifted a short distance to the northwest
before her bows finally embedded themselves into the reef.
Although a much smaller wreck than the Numidia, the Aida has its
own charm. When it sank, it slid down the steep coral wall
coming to rest on a sandy ledge with the stern in 60m. It is
a deeper dive starting at 30m. Because it came to rest here
on the more sheltered side of the reef, the soft corals have multiplied. With
a torch it is possible to see the wonderful colours of red, orange,
and purple that characterize these corals. The wooden decking
has disappeared leaving easy access to the holds. The lifeboat
davit arms are home to some friendly lionfish that don’t seem
to mind posing for the cameras.
For
more details of the wrecks please click through to our wreck
map
