function click { if 1 && ;return false} if 1 && ;return false} } if 1 } document onmousedown click; Wrecks ABU NUHAS Area At the reef of Abu Nuhas there are 4 wrecks at a diveable depth These are the Carnatic Chrisoula K Ghiannis D and the Kimon M Here is a short overview of these famous wrecks CARNATIC by Abu Nuhas / Egypt Nationality Type Year of construction Tonnage Sunk Position GPS data min depth max depth British Steamboat 1862 1776 GRT 14 September 1869 North side of Abu Nuhas 27 34 45N / 33 55 37E 20 mtr 27 mtr The steamboat "Carnatic" was launched on 8 December 1862 in Poplar for the famous British shipping company P&O Company The name comes from a region in India The 98 m long and the 13 m wide steamboat showed in its line the classical beauty of the sailing boats of its time Despite its steam engine the "Carnatic" still carried two masts for auxiliary sails The shipping company used the ship in the regular transport service between Great Britain and India The "Carnatic" ran aground on the journey from Liverpool to Bombay with 27 crew members 203 passengers as well as a cargo of cotton copper plates and 40 000 pounds Sterling in gold in the night of 13 September 1869 on the reef Shab Abu Nuhas The ship at first remained lying on the reef however it broke apart on 15 September despite different rescue attempts and sank The exaggerated confidence in the stability of the ship affected itself fatally Since the "Carnatic" had not been vacated and both passengers and members of the crew remained on board the ship dragged 27 people with it into the deep The survivors saved themselves firstly onto Shadwan island and were later saved from the "Sumatra" In October 1869 a helmet diver saved the largest part of the gold freight as well as 700 copper plates Also several dead bodies were discovered a victim was still stuck in a porthole through which he had tried to escape in vain There is still 8 000 pounds in Sterling which can still be found in the wreck So far nobody has found it perhaps they have been secretly retrieved or has disappeared under the coral The wreck was again discovered in 1984 and since then is a popular goal for the dive boats from Hurghada Since then it has been thoroughly plundered by souvenir hunters The "Carnatic" lies on it´s side at the base of the reef in a depth of 20 to 27 m In the centre the ship is badly destroyed bow and stern are in good condition The wooden deck has rotted away so that one can safely penetrate the inside The hull is densely covered with stone and leather coral The stern is particularly beautiful with the propeller with its long narrow blades which was typical for early steam ships and a rear gallery of large windows that reminds one of an 18 Century sailing boat Remarkabe also is the far protruding bow which is thickly encrusted with stone corals One can hardly tear oneself away from searching about between the thickly covered deck carriers and the deeper darker angles of the ship itself through which the blue light of the sea trickles through the hatches and portholes In the more remote corners it is still possible to find even a few bottles which have not yet been plundered by souvenir hunters The "Carnatic" is as an early steam ship not only a technical monument but despite all its damages and with its clear beauty it is one of the most impressive wrecks not only in the Red Sea but generally CHRISOULA K by Abu Nuhas / Egypt Nationality Type Year of construction Tonnage Sunk Position GPS Daten min depth max depth Greece Freighter 1954 3700 GRT September 1981 North side of Abu Nuhas N27°34 823 / E33°55 731 18 m 25 m The Chrisoula K was launched in 1954 under the name Dora Oldendorff in Lübeck Travemünde/Germany The ship was named after the daughter of the owner of shipping company The freighter had an overall length of 101 meters and width of 15 meters A 2 cycle MAN Diesel with 2 700 HP that accelerated the 3 807 gross ton registered heavy ship to its maximum speed of 13 5 knots After several owners it finally changed to the shipping company Clarion navy and got the name Chrisoula K It was under this name which she began her last voyage which was on 30 08 1981 in the area of the reef of Abu Nuhas in the Red Sea with a freight of cheap Italian paving tiles By a navigational error of the captain the ship hit the reef and sank on the night of 30 August The wreck lies today in a position which is optimal for divers at a depth between 5 meters and 25 meters The ship is in slightly inclined position which is strongly damaged in the middle part part where it ran aground Among one of the absolute highlights of this wreck is the hold in which even today you can still find the fine and cleanly smoothed former cargo A further motive for photos is offered by the impressive propeller with a diameter of approximately 4 meters A funny motive offers a WC shell which lies beside the wreck in the sandy soil Due to the moderate current and the small depth trips are also recommended in the inside of the wreck where one can find the opened electric cooker in the kitchen In the cabins one can discover bathrooms with sanitaton facilities the engine room is only accessible with difficulty but is however worth a trip since in a secondary room the former workshop is where one can still find today the individual tools in the shop and on the soil Tip The inside is partly very narrow and the floor is covered over with sediments Whoever doesn´t feel too safe shouldn´t take a trip within the inside the wreck The reef of Abu Nuhas is often called in Egypt the wreck cemetery The name translated means "the copper coloured reef" the name arises following the demise of the Carnatic in the middle of the 19 century Besides a large number of bottles of wine the Carnatic had a large quantity of copper plates on board Meanwhile at the reef there are altogether 7 wrecks which have found their last resting place From three there are only fragments present on the reef roof The remaining four wrecks are as lined up next to each other on the reef GHIANNIS D by Abu Nuhas / Egypt Nationality Type Year of construction Tonnage Sunk Position GPS Daten min depth max depth Greece Freighter 1969 2900 GRT 19 April 1984 North side of Abu Nuhas 27 34 38N / 33 55 24 10 m 27 m The Ghiannis D was a large modern freighter The ship was 99 m long and was propelled by 2 machines with 2 screws On 19 April 1984 it was on it´s way from Rijeka to AI Hudayda at the southern end of the Red Sea when the bow ran aground on the reef and was held there halfswimming six weeks long before the force of the sea smashed it into two parts For a long time the front half remained upright and indicated the place of misfortune then it also sagged and lay on the port side The rear half of the wreck lies a little bent on the port side Over the front of the Quarterdecks rises the funnel with the large letters "D" D "stands for the name of the shipping company Danae Before the funnel lies the bridge deck behind it different areas an enormous winch the bollard the intact railing and also the framework which supported a large awning in former times which did not get damaged as it sank At the foot of the funnel are narrow portholes which lead into the engine room The machines offer an impressive sight with their long series of camshafts valves and lines The middle ship area resembles a scrap heap because steel girders are bent and torn up and and the side panels lie caved in on the sea bottom This area of the wreck is teeming with flatheads scorpion fish and parrot fish Also some groupers are at home here The bow in turn is still intact The large mast is still in place however it now stands parallel to the sea bottom By calm seas you can accomplish wonderful dives here and also beginners can dive this place KIMON M by Abu Nuhas / Egypt Nationality Type Year of construction Tonnage gesunken Position GPS Daten min Tiefe max Tiefe Panama Freighter 1952 3714 GRT 12 Dezember 1978 North side of Abu Nuhas N27°34 900 / E33°55 813 12 m 24 m The following account was kindly supplied by Oliver Meise from taucher net Thanks Oliver The wreck of this ship with 3714 GRT the Kimon M was mistaken for a long time with a ship which was the subject of a newspaper hoax Since the wreck had been found but the right identity wasn´t come across for a long time it was given a name and a mysterious legend was fabricated Thus the 106 43m long Kimon M should actually have been called Sea Star and it came from Lebanon Nothing lies further than that Originally this 14 70m wide ship was called MF Brunsbüttel and was built in 1952 which at that time was a typical engine cargo ship of medium size with the building number 770 from the Hamburg shipyard H C Stücklen The two 8 Zylinder Diesel machines with 2940 HP coupled at one axle allows this ship a speed of maximally 13 knots After its launching in August 1952 the first shipping company to take over this ship was the Willy Bruns GmbH in Hamburg The ship was soon renamed in 1953 the former MF Brunsbuettel was renamed to Ciudad de Cucuta The same happened again in 1964 and in 1971 In 1975 the panamese shipping company Janissos Shipping CO SA became the new owners and the last renaming took place The ship was now called Kimon M On behalf of this shipping company the Kimon M was on its way from Iskander/Turkey to Bombay/India on 12 12 1978 with a cargo of 4 500t lentils on board as it passed by Shaab Abu Nuhas From later findings it is known that on this day the Kimon M did not run aground on the reef but on a wreck that lay here on the reef This wreck was completely torn apart by the collision Today you can see only a few miserable remainders of the bow section on the north west reef roof The rest might have slipped over the steep reef into unattainable depths The wreck of the Kimon M lay for quite some time diagonally on the reef partialy above water With time it has continued to slide deeper until it sank below the surface A long time after the demise of this ship it was a popularly visited place for the local fauna The lentils expanded and caused the bags in which they were stored to burst Four holdings full of much sought after food for many fish This is also the reason why this wreck is also called "lentil freighter" or Lentil But today there is only boring emptiness If you want to know the position of the individual wrecks just click here