Egyptian Shipwrecks A Preview - DiveLife

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EXTRACTS FROM AREA 1 CHAPTER 4-ABU NUHAS
"Discovering" the Wreck
M.V GIANNIS D
At 04.00 hrs on the 19th April 1983, Lawson Wood and myself (Peter Collings) were woken by the very excited
skipper of the Lady Jenny 3 live-aboard. He had just listened in to an S.O.S. and subsequent rescue of the crew of
the Greek cargo vessel Giannis D. The crew had abandoned the vessel, which is listing, and had been taken by an
Egyptian tug to an oil platform and then by helicopter to the mainland.
From the transmissions we were able to locate where the ship had struck, and at dawn we were face to face with
an amazing site - that of a freighter listing to port, hard and fast into the northern face of Abu Nuhas, her deck
cargo of mahogany being tossed up into the air like matchsticks.
Today she is a playground for divers in a max depth 24 mtrs broken into 2 patrs and great to explore. Often
visited by the resident dolphins.
S.S. CARNATIC
In total contrast to the other wrecks on Abu Nuhas, the Carnatic is adorned with nearly
150 years of coral growth of splendid colours and variety. The story of her demise is
almost as colourful. The P&O passenger mail ship was used between Bombay and Suez,
in the days before the canal, when passengers had to complete their journeys overland to
and from Alexandria. This journey was affectionately known as the Spice Run. It is from
these journeys that the term posh was derived (port out starboard home). Her ornate design
can still be recognized to this day.She ranks as one of the prettiest wreck in the area.
It is interesting to note that she was not discovered until several years after we had found
the Giannis D sinking. Had we known it, only a few hundred mtrs away way a fabulous
find, which would have made that first ever livaboard even more memorable.
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