Kimon M. - Seastar
Nationality: Panamesien
Typ: Freighter
Year of construction: 1952
Tonnage: 3714 GRT
Sunk: 12. December 1978
Position: North side of Abu Nuhas
min. depth: 12 m
max. depth: 24 m |
The Wreck
of this ship with 3714 GRT - the Kimon M - was mistaken for a long time with a ship which was the subject of a newspaper hoax. Since the wreck had been found - but the right identity wasn’t come across for a long time - it was given a name and a mysterious legend was fabricated. Thus the 106,43 m long Kimon M should actually have been called Sea Star and it came from Lebanon. |
Nothing is further than that.
Originally this 14,70 m wide ship was called MF Brunsbüttel and was built in 1952, which at that time, was a typical engine cargo ship of medium size, with the building number 770 from the Hamburg shipyard H.C. Stücklen. The two 8-Zylinder Diesel machines with 2940 HP - coupled at one axle - allows this ship a speed of maximally 13 knots. |
After its launching
in August 1952, the first shipping company to take over this ship, was the Willy Bruns GmbH in Hamburg. The ship was soon renamed: in 1953, the former MF Brunsbuettel was renamed to Ciudad de Cucuta. The same happened again in 1964 (Angela) and in 1971 (Kimon). In 1975, the panamese shipping company Janissos Shipping CO SA became the new owners, and the last renaming took place: The ship was now called Kimon M. |
On behalf of this shipping company,
the Kimon M was on its way from Iskander/Turkey to Bombay/India on 12. December 1978, with a cargo of 4.500t lentils on board, as it passed by Shaab Abu Nuhas. From later findings, it is known that on this day, the Kimon M did not run aground on the reef, but on a wreck that lay here on the reef. This wreck was completely torn apart by the collision. |
Today, you can see
only a few miserable remainders of the bow section on the north-west reef roof. The rest might have slipped over the steep reef into unattainable depths. The wreck of the Kimon M lay for quite some time diagonally on the reef, partially above water. With time, it has continued to slide deeper, until it sank below the surface. |
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