DEEP NORTH WRECKS – Red Sea Diving Deep North Wraki

he Northern Wrecks of the Red Sea have been shrouded in mystery for many years and divers have been begging to go there forever. Deep Voyage has finally decided to take the plunge and go for it full force!

This trip is awesome for veteran Red Sea travellers who have been to Egypt many times before because we will certainly be by ourselves most of the time.

The only reservation we note about this itinerary is that it cannot be done with a forecast of winds higher than 10 knots. In that case, the waves will be just too high. We have been out there with winds of up to 40 knots and although Liberty will survive without a scratch, the seas are just too high to dive and anchor. This is due to the nature of the wreck locations which are places with zero enclosure.

In a case where we are forced to scrub, we linger at the northern wrecks of Rosalie, Thistlegorm and Kingston in wait of the calmer sea for as long as we can. As soon as the winds die down, we steam up North for 8 hours to the wreck of the SS Turkia

NOTE: It is physically impossible to visit ALL the wrecks on this list. The main wrecks are the ones further north, while the traditional sites are a list of back-up sites.

the dive sites

Abu Nahas

SS. Thistlegorm

Rosalie Muller

Ulysees Wreck

Laura Security

M.V Aboudy

S.S Turkia

The Bakr

S.S Scalaria

Birchwood

The Alaska

Star of Rawiah

Sea Star

S.S Zietieh

Abu Nahas is famed by here main 5 shipwrecks which are easy to dive and are an amazing experience. One of the great things about this site is the 4 wrecks are all of the completely different origin and time of build making it a time warp if you will. The Name Abu Nahas means: “The Brass One”, because ships normally represent a lot of brass 🙂

Abu Nahas also offers divers an excellent enclosure in which to settle between dives making it an excellent second day to any Safari.

The Wrecks of Abu Nahas:

Carnatic

The second half of the eighteen hundreds was an era when tall ships ruled the trade routes, beautiful slender vessels that overlapped the time of sale and the time of steam. The Carnatic was one of those proud ships. With 34 passengers she was trafficking the route Suez – Bombay – china for The Peninsular & Oriental line under the command of Captain P.B. Jones and his 176 members of the crew. The cargo was cotton bales, copper sheets, Royal Mail and £40.000 of Spices.

Just after midnight September 12th 1869 The Carnatic hit the reef of Shaab Abu Nuhas. The night was tranquil and the brakes over the reef didn’t give its position away until it was already too late to correct the course. The Carnatic ran aground and was firmly stuck on of the reef. However, the situation seemed safe and Captain Jones was sure that the pumps would be able to rid the inflowing water. He trusted the P&O liner Sumatra, that was due to pass shortly, would be in time to help. For more than 48 hours he was right but before The Sumatra steamed into sight the reef ate through the iron hull and The Carnatic broke in two. The aft section was ripped off, rolled over and sunk followed by 5 passengers and 26 of the crew. This caused the bow to re-float, roll over to the port side and disappear beneath the waves. The remainder of the passengers and crew saved themselves into the lifeboats that came off as The Carnatic sunk and went for safety on Shedwan Island. All the £40.000 worth of specie was recovered and the myth of “half the treasure still waits to be found” is just that; a myth.

This wreck is likely to be one of the most beautiful in the Red Sea. The wooden deck is long gone and the metal framing is covered with soft coral offering exquisite photo opportunities. The stern-section is resting on the port side with the rudder and propeller screw in 26 meters of water. The midsection is collapsed but still an interesting part of the dive. Here you find the boiler, funnel and the two masts that are reaching out over the sandy seabed. Like the stern, the bow is a framework of metal incrusted by one hundred and fifty years worth of coral growth. Where the bowsprit once was attached a peeping hole now opens for a classic and world-famous camera angle.

Once the wreck was full of wine bottles but years of souvenir-hungry divers have deprived The Carnatic of this treasure. Now all you can find is a few broken bottles here and there. See but not touch is the rule here.

Type: Steam/Sailor Passenger/Cargo -ship

Built: 1862 in London

1776 ton – 89.8m x 11.6m

Engine: 4 cylinder compound inverted

Sank: Sept 14th 1869

Depth: 26 meters

The Giannis D:

The Giannis D, a 100m general cargo vessel built in Japan but under Greek ownership, hit the Abu Nuhas Reef at full tilt on 19 April 1983. The ship, laden with timber, sank to 24m with the stern and bow still intact but amidships is now a crumpled mess. The engine room at a depth of 13m offers easy and superb penetration through clouds of glassfish.

You can investigate the multilevel rooms and passageways here for octopus and giant moray eel. The bow mast extends out horizontally from the boat, creating a great spot to search for scorpionfish, gobies and nudibranchs. To end your dive you can simply climb the main mast up to the shallows at 4m and perform your

The Kimon M:

The Kimon M is the deepest of the Red Sea wrecks within recreational diving depths here. Its stern lies on the seabed at 32m, with its bow shallower at 15m. This 120m German cargo vessel sank on 12 December 1978, laden with lentils. Initially, the boat sat upright on the reef but later currents and wind pushed the ship into deeper water on its starboard side. Much of its cargo and engine were recovered after its sinking. The wreck harbours several different species of pipefish.

The Chrisoula K:

The Chrisoula K was a 98m Greek registered freighter that sank on 31 August 1981, laden with floor tiles. The ship lies with its stern and propeller at 26m and its bow in shallow water at only 3m. It sits more or less upright but the stern is slowly separating. The wreck offers plenty of swim-throughs and penetration diving opportunities but beware of the numerous obstructions such as fallen beams and poles. Its superstructure is now encrusted with a layer of hard corals and is home to flatworms, Lion Fish, Arabian Picasso triggerfish, and clown sand wrasse. Dolphins also pass by here occasionally

The Sea Star:

The Seastar is the 5th shipwreck at Abu Nuhas, but since it lies in water 90m deep, it is not frequently dived, and certainly not by recreational Red Sea divers.

NORTH WRECKS

AL Qamar AL Saudi AL …

Shag Rock

Shag Rock (Kingston) 27°46.438' N …

Dunraven

27°42.200' N – 34°07.300' E …

ZIETIEH

ZIETIEH Ghanem Reef Ashrafi Gulf …

The Elliot

Ras Dib Gulf of Suez …

S.S. Scalaria

S.S. Scalaria Ras Gharib Gulf …