Giannis D

The buoy line drops onto a wreck that can be seen from the surface, her superstructure canted over to port. The mast is the first thing within reach, almost parallel to the reef and topping out at 4-5 metres, so the shallowest part of the ship is also the way the dive ends. Most divers head aft first for the propeller, which means leaving the shallow part of the wreck: the stern lies on sand at anywhere from 20 to 30 m depending on the account, past the depth Open Water training covers, so stay at or above your certified depth. Some divers enter through an aft opening. The route then works round the wreck to the amidships and forward sections and finishes at the bridge or along the reef slope above.

At the stern the bridge and funnel stack up in tiers, with the big D still readable on the funnel. The bridge section opens into the crew quarters, engine room and mess hall; the engine room, at about 13 metres and full of glassfish, is reached through that interior, so it belongs to wreck-trained divers or a guide. Because the ship lies on her port side at a list that dive guides put near 45 degrees, floors become walls and doorways open sideways. Batfish and lionfish work the soft-coral-covered hull, and moray eels, bannerfish and jackfish sit on the reef slope near the bridge.

Lying on her port side, the ship shows every deck at an angle: the funnel with its D, the canted bridge and the glassfish-filled engine room all sit at a tilt, and one account reports divers voting her the most photogenic vessel in the Red Sea.

Her cargo of sawn softwood from Rijeka earned her the nickname Wood Wreck, and the earlier name Markos is still discernible on the hull.

She was launched in 1969 as the Shoyo Maru at a Japanese yard in Imabari and sold on as the Markos in 1975. In 1980 the Dumarc Shipping and Trading Corporation of Piraeus bought her and renamed her Giannis D, which makes her Japanese-built and Greek-owned. In April 1983 she was loaded with sawn softwood at Rijeka, Croatia, bound for Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Hodeidah in Yemen, and drove hard onto the north-west corner of Sha'ab Abu Nuhas. The crew abandoned ship and were rescued, with no loss of life. She split as she sank1; in Dutch the nickname is Houtwrak.

Boats run out from Hurghada, about 25 miles by one account, and transit is reported at up to about two hours. Most dives launch from RIBs, because larger boats moor further off.

Navigation inside the wreck is disorienting because of the list, and only experienced wreck divers, or divers with a qualified guide, should attempt penetration. In rough weather strong currents run through the wreck, and the surface is exposed: very large waves are reported on the ascent, so plan the way back up before you drop.