Thistlegorm mooring complaints
Pressure piled upon famous wreck once again by visiting divers
Mooring lines tied directly to the remains of the Thistlegorm in the Red Sea are damaging the wreck.
The new warning comes from Egypt’s Chamber of Diving and Watersports (CDWS).
The Thistlegorm is one of the most famous wrecks in the Red Sea, if not the world.
Carrying vehicles, stores and munitions for the North Africa campaign in WW2, she was dive bombed and sent to the bottom on October 6th 1941.
Today the wreck is one of the best known and most visited dive sites in the Red Sea, located close to Sharm El Sheikh.
However, the CDWS says it has received a complaint about a dive guide on a safari boat who tied to the wreck of the Thistlegorm via the famous gun on the stern.
It’s not a new problem. Due to deterioration, in 2007 diving was suspended to install new mooring points, as well as drill holes to allow air to escape.
But ominously for this busy dive site, there are reports that the mooring bollards were poorly located and boats once again have begun tying off on the superstructure.
It seems likely that the huge numbers of visiting divers putting pressure on the wreck will cause it to disintegrate quicker in due course.
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