One of four diveable wrecks, and the oldest, at the reef Abu Nuhas, the SS Carnatic is nothing short of a true, straight-out-of-an-adventure-novel treasure ship. Abu Nuhas is known as the “wreck eater,” as at least four ships have ended their careers here, all of them sinking after striking the reef and coming to rest in shallow waters, some of them on top of the reef itself.
The Sinking of the SS Carnatic
The SS Carnatic was a British-built and owned trade ship, on its way back to the U.K. from India, laden with spices, passengers, and a fairly large quantity of gold, roughly $67,000 worth. Traveling north in the Red Sea, it struck the Abu Nuhas, which was not yet on naval charts, at full speed, launching the ship fully on top of the reef, where it came to rest upright. The ship had taken on some water, but the situation wasn’t critical, so the captain ordered everyone to stay onboard, hoping a passing vessel would spot the stranded ship. The passengers and crew spent a full three days on board, going about their business, and even hosting dinner parties, before the ship began slowly slipping off the reef and sinking. The captain quickly ordered everyone to the lifeboats and they made for Gifton Island, from whence they were rescued the following day. A later expedition to recover the non-perishable goods managed to recover about 85 percent of the gold; the rest was never found. Some rumors claim that the gold is still on the shipwreck, but others claim commercial divers tasked with finding it may have pocketed a bit of the gold themselves.
Diving the SS Carnatic
Abu Nuhas is a popular stop for liveaboards, as well as a few day boats, so there are plentiful options if you want dive here. The SS Carnatic rests in about 85 feet (25 m) of water on the south side of the reef, which is effectively the outside of a semicrescent-shaped reef. As you round the eastern corner of the reef, coming from the most commonly used mooring site on the inside of the reef, it is the first wreck you come to. Mooring buoys mark the wreck and typically you’ll follow theses buoy lines down, using them as shotlines. The wreck is on its port side up against the reef, with almost all of the woodwork gone, leaving the steel skeleton exposed. This allows for easy penetration, as it’s almost always immediately possible to swim back out to open water. A number of items from the ship are still visible inside, including several broken wine bottles, which have been arranged neatly by divers over time. Needless to say, watch your buoyancy here so you don’t cut yourself. The wreck and the nearby reef often offer plenty of animal life, and the surrounding sandy bottom offers good light for photography.
The relatively shallow water and the position of the wreck makes it possible to do a nice, long dive, exploring all the nooks and crannies of the wreck, inside and out. This is one of the most uncomplicated wreck dives in the area, and is suitable for novice wreck divers. Spend the last part of the dive on top of the wreck and up towards the reef, where you can migrate into an extended safety stop, and from there to the shotline for your ascent.
The biggest problem with the wreck is weather conditions. Dives may be suspended on this and the other three wrecks at the reef in the case of strong winds, as the outside of the reef is quite exposed. The inside of the reef offers fairly easy, shallow reef diving, which can serve as an alternative if you get blown out.
