Also known as: Abu Galawa El Kebir, Abu Galawa Kebir (Big Lagoon), Abu Galawa Kebira, Big Abu Galawa
Fury Shoals lagoon reef off Hamata with a coral-overgrown wreck against the reef wall, bow at the surface and stern around 17-18m.
Last updated October 2026
The bow breaks the surface, and the rest of the wreck falls away from it down the reef wall to the stern near 17-18m. The hull lists slightly to starboard, overgrown with soft and hard coral, and sits half buried in sand at the base of the southern slope toward the western end of the reef. The hull does not rest fully on the reef, so divers can look underneath near the stern. Napoleon wrasse and whitetip reef sharks are often found around it.
Beyond the wreck the reef opens into walls, pinnacles and passages over sand and coral. Currents are rare, which is why the same shallow hull is very suitable for night dives.
The bow touches the surface, the whole hull stays within Open Water depth, and the coral on it is thick enough that the wreck reads as part of the reef.
The wreck is usually called the Tien Hsing, after a tug launched in 1935 and lost in the Red Sea on 26 October 1943.1
Boats run from Hamata, and one guide puts the reef roughly 12 km out into Fury Shoals. The crossing is open water and winter wind affects it, so expect a lively surface on windy winter days. Plan on 3 mm in summer and 5 mm in winter.
Plan on an exterior dive: around and over the hull. Any entry is overhead diving that needs training, and shallow coral covers the hull and the reef alike, so hold good trim and keep buoyancy tight over the sand under the stern.
The 2024 warm-water bleaching in the southern Egyptian Red Sea matters most on a hull whose appeal is its coral. Expect cover to vary from patch to patch, and weigh older photos of the hull accordingly.
What makes this dive site stand out.
The bow reaches the surface and the stern sits near 17-18m.
Soft and hard coral cover a hull that lists slightly to starboard on the reef wall.
Both are often found around the wreck.
Beyond the wreck the reef offers walls, pinnacles and passages over sand and coral.
Shallow water and rare currents make the wreck a good candidate after dark.
24.2281°N, 35.5742°E
Marine-park fees are bundled into trip pricing and differ by operator and year.
The wreck and the lagoon shallows sit within Open Water depth. The reef beyond them is deeper, 30-35m depending on the guide.
Summary
Graded easy for all levels: a shallow wreck, a sheltered lagoon and rare currents.
Safety considerations
What can go wrong here, and what divers do about it. Conditions change - take the briefing from the operator on the day.
Multi-day safari boats with this site on their itinerary.
41m, 26-guest wooden liveaboard running Master Liveaboards' full Egyptian Red Sea catalogue from Hurghada and Port Ghalib, from northern wrecks and Tiran through the offshore Brothers, Daedalus and Elphinstone to the far-south Rocky, Zabargad and St John's reefs.
Compact 18-guest, 9-cabin wooden liveaboard focused on Deep South and St John's routes from Port Ghalib, reaching remote Rocky Island and Zabargad.
26-guest sister of Superior with Junior and Executive suites, ranging across Emperor's Egypt catalogue from northern wrecks and offshore Brothers, Daedalus and Elphinstone to the Deep South.
36m, 22-guest steel liveaboard with a dedicated camera room and gas-blending deck, running the Brothers, Daedalus, Deep South and Fury Shoal weeks.
40m, 25-guest steel liveaboard, built 2023 for the Deep South: Daedalus, Rocky Island, Zabargad and St John's, plus Fury Shoal, from Port Ghalib.
131ft (40m), 26-guest steel Aggressor liveaboard for the remote Deep South Red Sea, running two alternating Saturday-to-Saturday itineraries from Port Hamata: Rocky & Zabargad Islands, and Elba Reef, reaching Egypt's southernmost reefs and St John's.
42m steel liveaboard released 2018, the Spanish-operated Blue Force Fleet's Egypt boat, running week-long Red Sea routes from Hurghada and Port Ghalib, with English and Spanish spoken on board.
44m, 28-guest wooden liveaboard and the Sea Serpent Fleet's technical flagship, running the fleet's shared Egyptian Red Sea route pool: offshore Brothers-Daedalus-Elphinstone, northern wrecks and the Strait of Tiran, and southern St John's and Fury Shoals.
It is the usual attribution, and no more than that. The name also appears as Tienstin, a variant spelling of the same tug. A Royal Navy register lists the tug Tien Hsing at 269 tons, launched 1935 and lost in the Red Sea on 26 October 1943, and dive operators place her on this reef after a voyage from Suez to Massawa, built in Shanghai and seized by British forces in 1941. Nothing in the naval record locates the tug on this reef, one operator calls its own account not fully proven, and a 2025 survey of the hull points out that the tyres hung as fenders date from the 1960s, some twenty years after the tug was lost. Length is given as 34 or 35m. Treat the name as the common label for the wreck and the history as open.
Guides disagree. One describes access to the interior, another says you cannot dive in but can dive under the hull. Plan on an exterior dive: around and over the hull, and under it near the stern, where it does not rest fully on the reef. Any entry is overhead-environment diving that needs training and equipment, so ask your guide what is allowed on the day.
Not always. Abu Galawa on its own can mean the Kebir and the Soraya together, two neighbouring reefs grouped under one name. The wreck described here belongs to the Kebir, so check which reef a boat plan means before assuming a wreck dive.
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