Salem Express

The Salem Express was a working Red Sea ferry, not a wartime relic. Launched in France in 1964, she ran under a series of names before the Egyptian Samatour company bought her in 1988, renamed her, and put her on the busy pilgrim route between Safaga and Jeddah. On the night of 14 to 15 December 1991 she was returning from Jeddah in rough weather when she struck a reef just offshore and went down in roughly twenty minutes. Hundreds of people died, most of them Egyptian pilgrims coming home from Mecca. The official toll stands at least 470, and the ship is widely believed to have been overcrowded, so the true number is disputed and may be far higher. That recent, large-scale loss of life is the reason the wreck is dived the way it is.

You dive the Salem Express around the outside of the hull. She lies on her starboard side on flat sand, a largely intact ship about 115 metres long, too big to take in on a single dive, so many operators run two passes. A typical route starts at the bow, where the impact damage and the open bow door speak directly to how she was lost, then follows the line of the hull past the bridge and superstructure and across the twin funnels with the Samatour logo at around 18 to 22 metres. The propellers, rudder and open vehicle decks take shape as the wreck rolls away beneath you, and lifeboats lie on the sand alongside, never launched. Luggage, shoes and children's toys are scattered across the surrounding sand. In good light the hull plates are bright and the whole ship is easy to read, which is part of what makes the dive land the way it does.

No other dive in the Red Sea carries the same weight. This is not an old war wreck softened by time but a recent disaster, dived as a memorial closer in spirit to visiting a grave than to exploring the Thistlegorm. The combination is unusual: an accessible, photogenic, largely intact ferry, and a sober human story that divers carry with them long after the dive. Community voice is consistent on the point. Some describe a quiet, almost reflective beauty in the way coral and small fish are slowly taking hold over the steel. Others find it simply too sad and say plainly they would not dive it again. What recurs in every account is the human detail rather than the fish, and the shared sense that the site is a place to pay respect.

Treat the Salem Express as a respectful exterior dive and brief yourself on the history beforehand. Do not photograph the victims' personal effects, and touch, move or remove nothing from the site. Carry and deploy an SMB on ascent, because there is dive-boat traffic overhead at this popular wreck. The sand sits at 30 to 32 metres, so plan the profile, watch your depth around the scale of the ship, and consider Nitrox within its limits for more time. Hold good trim near the structure to avoid stirring silt and to stay clear of sharp, oxidised steel. Be ready for the emotional weight of the dive. It is entirely reasonable to decide not to dive it, and divers and crews alike accept that some will sit it out.