Salem Express

Egypt,Red Sea

Fred Scamaroni was built in France and launched in November 1964. She was a beautiful ship for her time. She served both in France and England, before she ended up in Egypt and was renamed Salem Express. Her beauty soon disappeared as both mechanical maintenance and caring for the ship in general was neglected. On her last voyage she had been delayed two days due to engine trouble in Jeddah . After she was able to set sail towards Safaga, the weather deteriorated and the ship hit the Hyndman Reefs outside Egypt at night 17.December 1991 after a bad decision by the captain. She sank within a few minutes and in the official reports its stated that 464 people perished. The wreck rest today on a depth of approx 12 to 30 meter southeast on Hyndman Reef.


Name:
Former names:
 Dimensions:
Salem Express
Fred Scamaroni, Nuits Saint George, Lord Sinai 114,9 x 17,8 x 4,9 m
     
Tons: Built: Home Port:
4470 grt
 		Le Seyne ( F ) 1966 Safaga ( EG )

N 26.39.01 E 34.03.48


Picture: Nuits Saint George
Originally from skovheim.org
Underwater Video
Lloyd’s casualty report:
"The Salem Express sank after grounding in the Red Sea on 15 December 1991. It was a 4770 GRT Egyptian Ro-Ro passenger ferry, built in 1966, originally certified for 1384 passengers. It was sailing from Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) to Safaga (Egypt) with 578 passengers and 71 crew. While approaching Safaga at midnight in rough weather, the Master took a short-cut which was not authorised for night passage. The ferry struck a reef and sank within 20 minutes. There were 180 survivors and 117 bodies recovered. It was estimated that 464 people drowned in total"