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Dunraven - Shaab Mahmoud
Nationality: British
Type: Freighter
Year of construction: 1873
Tonnage: 3700 GRT
Sunk: 1876
Position: Sha`ab Mahmud/Beacon Rock
min. depth: 15 m
max. depth: 29 m |
Beacon Rock is a small reef,
partly rising up over the water surface, which lies 6.9 miles west of Ras Mohammed and possesses a small lighthouse, which marks the southernmost point of Sha'ab Mahmud. Here the English cargo ship Dunraven, sank in 1876 on its way to Bombay. It had been built by the dockyard Mitchell & C in 1873, and had a mixed drive propulsion system. |
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The wreck,
which lies reverse and separated into two parts, at a depth of between 15 and 29.5 meters, was first discovered in 1977 from the geologist Arye Keller and by the underwater cameraman Howard Rosenstein. The Dunraven was topic of a memory-worthy BBC documentary film from 1979 and became thereafter a classical diving spot.
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Since during the shipwreck
the freight of wood and cotton bale was lost and the ship caught fire, the wreck presents itself today as a large, almost empty cave, into which one can advance through three main openings, on the stern, the middle section and the bow. |
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The dive begins
at the stern, which is the deepest lying part of the wreck and where some flathead fish can be seen. After covering several meters inside the hull, which is covered with large groupers, lion fish, scorpion fish, swarms of glass fish and colored soft leather corals, it is advisable, to leave the ship by the middle at the opening which is conveniently level with the engine room, in order from the outside to investigate the bow, and above all, the coral gardens which are full of life
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