El Arish

The El Arish was a 105 m passenger and car ferry, built in Norway in 1981. She ran between ports in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, was renamed El Tor El Arish in 1991 and, after being sold in 1999 to the Sayed Nasr Navigation Line of Cairo, became the Al Arish. In 2001, on her final voyage, from Jeddah to Safaga, a fire in the engine room caused heavy damage. The ship returned to Safaga and lay at anchor until one day she disappeared: she had sunk at her own anchorage. The cause of the sinking is uncertain, and the explanations put forward range from a deliberate scuttling after a long period of unpaid harbour fees to an alleged insurance scam. The wreck was only relocated a few years later.

Today the hull is intact, lying on her port side. You can see the lifeboat deck, the stack and masts, the foc'sle, the bow thruster, the stern gate, the rudders and propellers, and signs and deck chairs are still there. As it lies in a relatively sheltered area, the wreck tends to make a good dive in almost any weather conditions.