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Hurghada, El Gouna & the Gubal wrecksIntermediatewreck

SS Carnatic

Also known as Carnatic; The Wine Wreck; Abu Nuhas - Carnatic

Oldest of the Abu Nuhas wrecks and one of the oldest divable wrecks in the Red Sea (lost 1869)

No detailed dive map yet

A close-up reef map of SS Carnatic will appear here when available.

Oldest of the Abu Nuhas wrecks and one of the oldest divable wrecks in the Red Sea (lost 1869). The wooden decking is long gone, leaving a graceful iron rib-cage that is spectacular in shafts of sunlight. Bottles from the cargo (soda-water and wine bottles) still found in the sand around the stern. Depth 18–27 m; day boat; Usually mild on the sheltered southern face; can strengthen at the reef corners current. ship_type: Steam-assisted wood-on-iron P&O clipper / passenger-and-mail steamship; builder: Samuda Brothers, Cubitt Town, Isle of Dogs, London; year_built: Laid down 30 January 1862; launched 6 December 1862; completed 25…

Highlights

  • Oldest of the Abu Nuhas wrecks and one of the oldest divable wrecks in the Red Sea (lost 1869)
  • The wooden decking is long gone, leaving a graceful iron rib-cage that is spectacular in shafts of sunlight
  • Bottles from the cargo (soda-water and wine bottles) still found in the sand around the stern
  • Intact propeller and stern gear

Marine life

  • glassfish (dense schools inside the ribs)
  • batfish
  • lionfish
  • anthias
  • soft corals and gorgonians on the frames
  • groupers
  • moray eels

Good to know

Best season
Year-round. Water 22-29 C; calmest seas and best visibility March-November, with the coolest water and strongest northerlies December-February.
Protected status
Egyptian Red Sea marine protected area; HEPCA-maintained mooring buoys, anchoring prohibited
Fees
No separate site fee published; environmental tax historically 3.5 LE/diver/day (Red Sea Governorate, 2001), collection suspended after January 2011 per HEPCA.
Wreck
ship_type: Steam-assisted wood-on-iron P&O clipper / passenger-and-mail steamship; builder: Samuda Brothers, Cubitt Town, Isle of Dogs, London; year_built: Laid down 30 January 1862; launched 6 December 1862; completed 25 April 1863; length_m: 89.4; tonnage: 1,776 GRT; date_sunk: Struck the reef 13 September 1869; broke in two and sank on 14 September 1869; cause: Ran aground on Sha'ab Abu Nuhas en route Suez to Bombay. The captain kept passengers aboard for 34 hours; when water reached the boilers at about 02:00 on 14 September the ship lost power, the weakened keel gave way amidships and she broke in half during the evacuation. 31 lives lost (5 crew, 26 passengers).; cargo: Royal Mail, copper sheeting, cotton bales and about GBP 40,000 in gold specie for the Bombay mint (the specie was reportedly recovered by salvors within weeks); orientation: Lying on her port side at the foot of the reef with the bow pointing roughly east and the stern west; bow section 18-22 m, midships broken, stern 22-27 m.; wreck_depth_m: 18-27; penetration: Yes, and unusually benign - the open iron framework allows swim-throughs down to what was the second deck at the bow and two deck levels at the stern with ambient light throughout.; discovered: Rediscovered by divers in May 1984

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