Wreck

MS Balena

Hurghada, Red Sea, Egypt

Suitable for beginners
Best for advanced divers
Great for macro photography

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Type

Wreck

Max depth

9 m

Level

Advanced

Depth2-9 meters

LocationA few hundred meters off the Hurghada shoreline, about 5.7 km south-southwest of the marina.

ConditionsMost of the wreck lies between 2 and 9 m, with parts of her still above the surface. Visibility this close to shore is often reduced. Open to divers at any level, and to snorkelers over the upper deck.

Overview

The MS Balena was built in Norway in 1952 as a mail ship, converted into a liveaboard in the 1990s and brought to Egypt. By 1999 she was rusting at her mooring off the Giftun Village Hotel under an operator who was not maintaining her. The hull began to list in early April 2001, and on the night of April 12 a fire broke out and she went down onto sand at 9 m. The cause was never established, which is why the insurance question is still raised.

Dive plan

She rests upright on an even keel, which makes the whole ship legible in a single dive: the decks can be worked from the top down without ever leaving shallow water. The stern repays the closest look, with the propeller and rudder assembly intact.

What to see

Soft corals cover the railings and superstructure, and the small animals on them are what the wreck is photographed for: pretty hypselodoris and pyjama slugs, whitespotted puffers, yellow boxfish and crested velvetfish. Upside-down jellyfish lie bell-down on the sand alongside, holding their tentacles to the light for the algae living in them. Schools of garfish hang above the wreck with small barracuda among them, and gray morays live in the stern structure.