Salem Express

The Salem Express began life in France in the mid-1960s as the ferry Fred Scamaroni and ended it on the Jeddah–Safaga run, carrying Egyptian pilgrims home from Mecca. Late on 14 December 1991, closing the coast in rough weather, she passed inside Hyndman Reef. The impact sprang her bow visor, the vehicle deck flooded, and she rolled onto her starboard side and sank in roughly twenty minutes — too fast, in darkness and heavy seas, for most aboard to escape. It remains one of the worst peacetime disasters in Red Sea history, and its weight is still felt in Safaga, where many families lost relatives. Navy divers recovered those they could reach and sealed sections of the ship. Divers who visit today find luggage, a deck still marked with the company's S, and davits that never swung out. She is dived as a memorial, quietly, or not at all.

How she sank: Struck Hyndman Reef near Safaga in heavy weather on the night of 14–15 December 1991 and sank within minutes.

Condition: Structurally intact and recent enough that details — lifeboats, letters on the hull, scattered belongings — remain sharply legible, which is exactly why restraint matters here.

Penetration: None. Entry is physically possible but many local operators decline it out of respect, and sealed compartments hold the dead. Treat the interior as a tomb and stay outside.

Recommended certification: Advanced Open Water

Current: Mild · Visibility: 15–25 m

Marine life: Hard corals have begun to sheet the upturned port side, emperor angelfish and snappers move along the promenade, and jacks ride the mild current off the bow.

Hazards: The emotional weight of the site is real; beyond that, mild current, some netting, and depth on the seabed side.

Local sensitivity is high: families of the lost live nearby, and respectful conduct — no souvenirs, no disturbance of personal effects — is expected of every visitor.

Touch and take nothing; the belongings scattered here were people's lives.