Salem Express
A ferry carrying pilgrims home from Mecca that sank in minutes a few kilometres from her home port. She is the coast’s largest grave, and whether she should be dived at all is a question worth answering before you book.
This wreck is a grave
Hundreds of people died here and many are still aboard. Egypt has declared the ship a maritime tomb: the interior is closed, and nothing is ever to be removed. Local families still hold memorials on the anniversary.
- Built
- Built 1964 in Nantes as the Fred Scamaroni
- Lost
- 15 December 1991 — Struck Hyndman Reef on a short cut into Safaga and sank in around twenty minutes
- Ship
- Passenger and vehicle ferry, 115m
- Depth
- 12–30m
- Diving it
- Day boat from Safaga, a short run offshore
What happened
On the night of 15 December 1991 the Salem Express was two hours from Safaga, coming back from Jeddah with Egyptian pilgrims returning from the Hajj. The crossing had already been delayed for two days by mechanical problems and the ship was, by every account, carrying far more people than her manifest recorded.
Approaching in poor weather, she took a short cut inside Hyndman Reef rather than the longer route north around Panorama. She struck the reef, the bow doors failed, and she went down in around twenty minutes — most of it in the dark, with families asleep below.
The official death toll is 470. The salvage operation is reported to have recovered considerably more bodies than that, and because the ship was overcrowded the real figure has never been established; estimates run past 1,600. Almost every family in Safaga lost someone.
She lies on her starboard side in 12 to 30 metres, close enough to shore that the town can see the buoy. Egypt has declared her a maritime tomb: penetration is forbidden outside the cargo deck, and the interior is not to be entered at all.
What is down there
- The hull on her starboard side, with the funnel and the ship’s name still legible
- The bow doors that failed, and the two enormous propellers
- Suitcases, shoes and personal belongings scattered across the seabed — left where they are
- The lifeboats still in their davits, which is the detail most divers remember
Conditions
- Shallow, sheltered and usually calm — technically among the easiest dives on this coast
- A short run from Safaga, so it is often a two-dive morning
- Visibility is generally good
What to watch out for
- Penetration is forbidden and enforced. This is not a wreck to explore; it is a wreck to swim over.
- Nothing is to be touched, moved or photographed for the sake of a personal effect. If your guide encourages otherwise, dive with someone else.
- Several people find the dive genuinely distressing, and that is a normal reaction rather than a failure of nerve.
Is it worth it?
This is not a question of whether the diving is good. It is shallow, easy and unremarkable as diving. Some divers come to pay respects and find it moving; others feel like tourists at a disaster and wish they had not. Decide which you are before you book, and if you are unsure, do not go — nobody on this coast will think less of you for diving somewhere else.
This is planning and history, not a dive briefing. Conditions change; your guide on the day is the authority. Diving emergency numbers and the coast’s recompression chambers are on our emergency contacts page.
This wreck also has a dive-site briefing: Salem Express
Also in this bay — Safaga
Dive sites
- Panorama ReefIntermediate
A large reef off Safaga with sheer walls on three sides and some of the healthiest soft coral in the northern Red Sea. The best day-boat dive on this stretch of coast.
Kitesurfing
- Safaga and Tobia islandAll levels
The coast’s original wind destination — flat water in the lee of a long headland and Tobia island, at prices from a different decade.
The town guide for Safaga