Today’s featured wreck is the Al Kahfain (aka the Ulster Queen, Al Kahera, Ala-Eddin and Poseidonia)
The AL Kahfain’s final voyage came on 01 November 2005 (One source states 22 November as the date of sinking) as the ship was departing Hurghada en route to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The ship was not carrying any Jeddah-bound passengers so there were only crew onboard. The ship had just cleared Shedwan Island when an explosion in the engine room started a fire which spread rapidly up to the superstructure. The order to abandon ship was given and the crew were rescued by passing vessels. One life reported lost, with 58 survivors.
An attempt to take the ship in tow and return to port was attempted but the ship capsized while in tow and drifted to the south where she sank at Sha’ab Sheer in approximately 25 meters of water, coming to rest on the bottom on her starboard side.
She is now lying almost completely upside down and the hull is split along the waterline. The are penetration points all along the wreck site but, as the wreck is slowly collapsing, one can hear metal creaking and grinding in many places.
Learn more at: http://www.redseawreckproject.com/red-sea-shipwreck-database/a/al-kahfain/
