Salem Express wreck

How did the Fred Scamaroni become the Salem Express?

The ship was born in 1965 at the La Seyne-sur-Mer shipyards as the Fred Scamaroni, named after a Corsican Resistance fighter killed in World War II, for the Marseille to Ajaccio route. She was a roll-on roll-off ferry 115 meters long and 18 wide, with bow doors for vehicles and two funnels. Sold and renamed Salem Express, she ended her career in the Red Sea on the route between Safaga and Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia, carrying workers and pilgrims.

What happened to the Salem Express on December 14, 1991?

On December 14, 1991, the Salem Express was sailing back from Jeddah to Safaga, packed with pilgrims returning from Mecca, far beyond her official capacity. Rather than rounding Panorama Reef to the north, the long and safe route, the captain took a shortcut between Hyndman Reef and the coast. Shortly before midnight, the ship drifted about a kilometer off course; at 11:13 p.m., she struck the reef. The breach opened the hull, the bow doors gave way, water flooded the car deck and the ferry went down in a few minutes, a few kilometers from port. The official toll is 464 dead; the real number of victims is very likely over a thousand. It is one of the worst maritime disasters in Egypt's modern history.

Is it right to dive the Salem Express?

The question comes up before you book, and everyone answers it for themselves. Victims still lie inside the ship: after the first dives, some of the decks were welded shut to close off the interior spaces, and penetration is now limited to the open areas. Serious dive centers present the site as a memorial, tell the story of the sinking before you get in the water, and forbid any photo of human remains as well as taking anything. On those terms, the dive is possible and dignified; it is nothing like an attraction.

How do you dive the Salem Express wreck?

The ferry lies on its port side, almost intact. You descend onto the stern, where the propeller and rudder stand at 32 meters, then work your way up along the decks, now vertical: the empty davits, the lifeboats fallen onto the sand where groupers hide, the railings dressed in soft corals, the two funnels marked with the company's S. At the bow, the car deck doors, torn open by the impact, and the ripped plates tell the story of the sinking. Under the decks, glassfish, lionfish and morays have moved into the passageways. Two dives are enough to see it all; most divers surface without a word.