It all began when, in the beginning of 2005, I heard from my friends Hassan and Ahmed Adly that an old ship had been especially sunk for divers in the waters off Hurghada. For the longest time I had heard rumors of plans for such an undertaking, but now the rumors had become reality. 

As usual, things didn't go entirely as projected. According to the planners, the ship was to have been sunk in an area where the bottom was no deeper than 30m -keeping it within reach of recreational divers. The ship was readied and towed to the chosen site. However, after reaching the pre-determined position, it took an unexpectedly long time to prepare the ship for sinking. During this delay, the ship drifted to another location. As a result, instead of the planned 30m depth, the ship settled on the sea floor at a depth of 46-47m. Due to fears of recreational divers attempting to dive the wreck and as a result paying mass visits to local recompression chambers, the decision was made to not install permanent mooring buoys on the wreck, and not to actively publish precise coordinates.

Until relatively recently, such was the situation.

On November 13th 2005 I received an email from Ahmed Adly that Marlin Inn Dive Center had obtained the coordinates of the wreck, and gone ahead and installed permanent mooring lines. Now it was possible to visit the wreck! Together with the email I received a drawing of the wreck (which turned out to be very accurate), and learned the ships name - Hebat Allah.

I suppose it goes without mentioning that while visiting Hurghada during the new year holidays, visiting this wreck was one of my first priorities! Circumstances allowed me to complete only two dives on the wreck, and so there are still some questions in my mind left as to "how, why, and wherefore". I hope that things work out in such a way, as to allow me to visit this wreck again many times in the future.

And so, on January 2nd and 5th 2006 Hassan Adly and I finally dived the Hebat Allah! The wreck lies in open water not far from Abu Ramada Island on an absolutely straight keel. The depth is 46-47 meters. The bottom consists mainly of hard corals and rocks, which keeps the visibility around the wreck reasonably clear. The visibility does vary from day to day, however, depending on currents and weather conditions. The wreck lies in an open area, with no reefs or islands providing shelter from waves, although the many surrounding islands keep the area more or less protected from true open sea conditions. Nevertheless, depending on weather conditions the surface conditions at this site can be quite rough. Currents vary according to weather, the days we dived saw good weather, with only a slight underwater current . Hebat Allah was a relatively small cargo ship, 51 meters in length. The entire mid section of the ship is the open cargo hold. The hold consists of one large compartment, open from the bows till the superstructure. the depth at the bottom of the hold is 44-45m. There is not much to see inside the hold other than assorted rubbish, and there are few entanglement hazards. The bow section of the hold consists of two small compartments.

It is possible to enter the bow compartments through openings connecting it to the hold. The bow compartments probably served as a storage area for ropes, anchors, and other equipment. Although it is possible for two divers to enter this area, there are several vertical columns which are part of the bows structure, making it necessary to move carefully in this area - there is a lot less space in here than there appears to be when looking in from the outside. There is a small trap door illuminating the upper compartment, through which ropes and anchors most probably used to be passed back and forth.

That's about as much as can be said for the bows, not counting some medium-sized junk that might be found lying around. After spending a couple of minutes in the bow area, the diver can start moving towards the stern area to visit the ship's superstructure.

The superstructure consists of three levels, each of which can be easily penetrated. I have to admit that I didn't make very detailed notes of the insides of the superstructure, and so I will leave a more detailed description for later. I have one comment, though, concerning what certain well-intentioned optimists have referred to as "permanent guidelines" inside the wreck. They consist of regular thick ropes, tied with questionable knots before the wreck's sinking and leading nowhere. Enormous "line arrows" made of sheet plastic are attached to the lines. They too, lead nowhere. 

These lines are not only unnecessary, they only get in the way. To be sure, the best thing would be to remove that mess, before someone gets seriously entangled in it

Returning to the superstructure. From the hold divers can enter the lower area of the superstructure via two hatches, one on each side. Entering from the port side a diver will find theirself in a narrow corridor, with rooms on either side. The above-mentioned "guideline" is found lying on the floor here, along with - take care - a fishing net, which somehow found its way inside the wreck. We found out first hand how easily a diver could become entangled in this net. Be careful in this place! Upon reaching the stern the corridor curves around and becomes much wider on the starboard side - on this side there are no rooms. By swimming straight ahead the diver reaches the starboard hatch leading back into the hold. 

Somewhere in that lower superstructure there should be a hatch leading to the engine room. We didn't really search for it and so didn't find it, which gives us something to do next time!

The next level up can be accessed through stairwells from the lower level, or through windows and doors on the outside of the wreck. The same goes for the top of the superstructure, which most likely served as the bridge. All the rooms are comlpetely empty, not including assorted bits of junk and the ever-present "guidelines". Outside the stern can be seen the ship's single propeller, which is good condition, although the rudder is broken off, most probably when the ship hit the sea bottom. The depth here is 46m.

The depth of the wreck necessitates decompression. It is quite easy to decompress along the thick mooring lines, which remain quite stable even when surface conditions are choppy.

Unfortunately, I was only able to find a limited amount of information about the history of the Hebat Allah. What we do know is that in 1987 the ship found itself in the Red Sea port of Safaga, where it had stood for quite some time. According to anecdotal reports, the ship's owner had accumulated enough of a debt to the port authority that he was compelled to sell the ship for a very low price.The ship was purchased by a local hotel owner, who stripped the ship of all its equipment, selling it for a handsome profit. The ship was moored near a sandy coral bank just off the Hurghada coastline, where it was completely neglected. Shortly afterwards, the Hebat Allah was ripped from its mooring lines by a storm and deposited on the sand bank. This seemed to have become the final fate of the Hebat Allah, and for 15 years the figure of a lone ship on the reef became a known sight - that is, until the idea was born to sink the neglected vessel, creating a new diving site and artificial reef.

The ship's owner happily donated it to the Red Sea governerate, and a special fund was set up to finance the project. On August 10, 2004, the Hebat Allah was sunk in its present position. You already know the rest of the story. The site was officially opened to divers in December 2005.

24.01.2006 
DM