One
of the most popular diving areas
in the world has to be ABU NUHAS.
Its proximity to Hurghada, El Gouna
and Sharm has ensured its claim
to fame.
For years there has been utter confusion
over the identity of two of the
wrecks; the “Kimon M”
(lentil wreck) and the very popular
"Tile wreck".
Despite the undisputable facts published
back in 1996, there are still publications
emerging with the incorrect identity
of the tile wreck at ABU NUHAS.
Guide books, dive maps and even
a CD ROM, still wrongly quote the
tile wreck as the CHRISOULA K. This
only goes to increase the confusion.
Any
one of the facts listed below proved
beyond a doubt the true identity
of the vessel.
- In 1978 a group of 8 divers from
the north east of England helped
a local skipper retrieve part of
the cargo of a ship which has sunk
a few months previously. At the
same time the ships bell, bearing
her original name was recovered.
The bell and the tiles remain in
Sharm to this day. The Chrisoula
K did not sink until 1981!
- Photographs taken from the bridge
of the Giannis D (taken by Peter
Collings) as she sank, clearly show
THREE sets of bows.
- The bow section of the Chrisoula
K sat on the reef, totally separated
from its main hull (see photo's)
until it was dispersed by the Navy.
- The Tile wreck still has her bow
in place!
- The derricks and booms from the
Chrisoula's bow lie northward on
top of the derricks from the Marcus.
- The engines in the tile wreck
differ from those fitted to the
Chrisoula K.
- In the year 2000 Ali Baba, Mohammed
Farouk joined Peter Collings and
successfully located the main body
of the Chrosoula K some 600mtrs
out from the reef in deep water.
A
quick look at some of the wrecks
in Egyptian waters which have a
familiar ring to them: "Greek
vessel changes name, owner, reinsured,
runs aground".
Gianni's D, Chrisoula K, Kimon M,
Million Hope, Zingara, Hamada, etc,
etc, all have suffered this fate
- bad seamanship, co-incidence or
something else?
For those who are not yet convinced
that the tile wreck is indeed the
MARCUS (not MARKOS which was a previous
name of the Giannis D), I enclose
below a letter from a Polish seaman
who had the misfortune to have been
shipwrecked 4 times in two years
in the Red Sea.
"My name is Stephan Jablonski
and I understand that some of my
experiences as a ships engineer
are of interest to sports divers
and shipwreck historians such as
Peter Collings.
I understand that there has been
much debate over the identity of
some ships which I had worked on
between 1971 and 1981. I hope that
my story will help solve some of
the mysteries.
I am retired now and have been for
some 20 years but still recall the
events of those years. It is difficult
to forget being shipwrecked 4 times!
Indeed in one year I had to abandon
ship 3 times. It was then I decided
to retire.
I
had worked on many ships from the
early 50's, moving from one to another
as ship owners sold vessels and
shipping companies came and went.
Some times it would be the same
employer but trading under a different
name and in some cases ships names
would change during a working period.
I worked on all kinds of vessels
mainly very old steamships, usually
general cargo vessels, which sometimes
carried passengers. Most were Polish
and Greek and many of my fellow
Poles worked on these ships too,
as there was much poverty back home
in Poland. We were very much at
the mercy of the employers and wages
were not good but the sea was a
better option than some of the jobs
available back home.
In 1978 I was employed by the Vikki
Shipping Line. They were a Greek
merchant fleet, made up of very
old ships. Most ships had a supply
of photos of the vessel which could
be used as postcards, and these
were used by the crew to keep families
back home informed of our travels.
I have collected and kept one when
ever I could.
Quite
often the ship would have a different
name on the postcard. (I have previously
sent one of these to Peter because
of his interest in the ships). It
was on my third voyage for this
company that I had my first experience
of being shipwrecked, although I
had been on board ships during many
groundings and collisions. Hardly
a voyage went by with out seeing
or being involved in an incident.
In May of ‘78 I had been moved
to a newly purchased vessel - a
4 hold freighter with 4 big offset
diesels. She was a real rust bucket
(as my English crew mates would
say) but the engines were well maintained.
The
engines were offset to port and
the generators set to starboard.
Seeing Peters underwater shots of
the engine room brought back memories.
It was the only ship I ever worked
on with this kind of layout. It
would be very eerie to go back -
if I were fit and brave enough!
She was called the Marcus, I remember
arriving and seeing her old name
being
painted out - only the last letters
remained... SKY. I don't recall
the K
being fitted to her funnel, but
they certainly were on the next
three ships.
There seemed to be some urgency
in leaving. We were in ballast and
heading for Italy - a regular run
- to pick up floor tiles - stacked
on pallets - bound for Saudi Arabia,
some Sheiks palace no doubt! I always
looked forward to this run because
it took two days to load the cargo
and there were some nice Italian
ladies we had become friendly with!
We
headed south through the Canal and
with my shift over I went to bed.
I was awakened in the early hours
by a tremendous noise of screeching
metal, utter panic and crew running
everywhere. We had run aground on
a reef. For the next 6 hours we
tried to stop the water flooding
into the ship. The engine room was
in 6 ft of water and it was rising.
The ship was settling by the stern
and the accommodation block was
soon underwater. By now several
ships had stopped and had sent their
boats to help. We abandoned the
ship - I could not get back to retrieve
my personal things and lost all
my tools, but I had always carried
my passport and important papers
everywhere - vital for a Pole outside
his country in those days. The Egyptians
and Israelis were always suspicious
and I didn't fancy being shot as
a spy. There was a big swell running
and one of the life boats was washed
onto the reef, although no one was
badly hurt the coral was very sharp
and the men had lots of cuts.
I didn't know exactly where we were
but it was near a big island to
the west
of the shipping lane. We were taken
on board one of the vessels heading
back for Suez. I was told that the
ship had run out of control - a
steering problem and caught in the
swell had ran onto the reef.
After a month or so I got a new
birth, and then in 1981 while working
on the Elphinki I was again shipwrecked
this time in the Mediterranean.
Then in August I was on another
cargo ship the Chrisoula and found
myself
reliving the journey of my first
shipwreck. Off to Italy, although
after taking on the cargo of tiles,
we had to make an" emergency"
stop. Syracuse I was later told.
The bridge reported
warning
lights on the instrument panels
and although we found no faults
on the engines we were ordered to
make a full overhaul of the engines.
That was a hard 18hr shift. Then
we were given the all clear and
the engines re started and we continued
south through the Suez Canal, but
we were much higher in the water.
I was puzzled at this but now realize
we had discharged the cargo. During
my next shift I was working in the
generator room when suddenly the
ship ground to a halt and there
was that now familiar sound of twisting
screaming metal. I ran up onto deck
and thought I was dreaming there
was that island and again there
was the same reef in front of us.
We were still afloat but held fast
by the bow and the swell was pushing
the ship deeper into the reef. Although
it didn't seem as though we were
sinking we were ordered into the
boats. As we left I noticed the
bow of my old ship the Marcus, sticking
out of the water close by.
I was later told that we had ran
aground on Abu Nuhas.
I decided at this point that I should
retire and after being landed at
Alexandria I returned home to Poland".
The final piece of the puzzle was
solved by a skipper onboard one
of the safari boats I had worked
on.
As
he watched my presentation of the
wrecks at Abu Nu has he recalled
seeing two tugs attempting to pull
the Chrisoula-K off the reef?
The main section of the ship broke
off, leaving the bow behind, and
as the tugs surged forward the ship
began to sink almost taking the
tugs with it, it was this clue which
prompted Ali Baba and me to go and
look for the final piece of the
puzzle. A bowless, tile-less wreck
lying north of Abu Nuhas!
Planet
Blue:
On
the 24th of September 2003, Marcus
Lohr returned to Daedalus reef
to fulfil his dream of getting
evidence of the existence of a
virgin shipwreck he saw by coincidence
two weeks earlier when looking
for hammerhead sharks. Already
the second attempt was successful
and at a depth of 75 meters Marcus
found the wreck resting on a slope
so steep that the stern was not
in sight. As he explored the wreck
further, he passed two anchors
at 88 meters depth then a round
shape on the bottom caught his
eye - it was a dinner plate with
the printed name “Helme
Park”, the shipping company
name “South Shields”
and the company flag. The evidence
was sent to Ned Middleton, well
known Red Sea wreck specialist
for further research and it didn’t
take Middleton long to establish
that the iron spar-decked screw
steamer “Helme Park”,
launched in January 1873 by the
company South Shields, was renamed
as “The Zealot”, lost
on Daedalus Shoal in 1876, now
resting on the seabed at a depth
of 75 to 110 meters. 
Nearly
on the day 127 before the rediscovery,
the Zealot left the harbour in
Liverpool on the 26th of September
1876 with destination Bombay.
Beside Captain J.A Best’s
crew of 53 men there were 2 passengers.
The cargo was (according to the
manifest) 790 bales, 91 cases
and 110 tons of iron to the value
of £ 24,700. After sailing
through the Mediterranean the
Zealot entered the Red Sea via
Suez on the 12th of October. The
following morning passing Shedwan
Island, Captain Best set the course
24 degrees for the route west
of Brothers Islands.