MS Balena (Hurghada - Egypt)

The Balena is just a short distance from the beach at Giftun Beach Resort.
You can see it from the surface and is at it’s most only 10 meters deep.
But don’t let this trick you, it’s one of the most beautifull wrecks if it comes to flora, founa and marine life!

This article is part of the “Get wrecked” series written by Edwin and originally published in the diving magazine of Lucky Divers Rotterdan (The Netherlands)
You can view the article by clicking on the image


NOTE: At this time the PDF of the published article is only available in Dutch.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Balena Published

Click to view the original article as PDF (Dutch)

MS Balena (Hurghada - Egypt)

The 40m long and 7m wide MS Balena is a former liveaboard that sank in 2001 off Hurghada, just a few hundred meters from the beach.
The wreck stands upright on a level keel and is now a popular attraction for divers and snorkelers. You can see it from the surface, as some of the structures protrude from the water.

There is only one word to describe this wreck: Magical

Unfortunatly we don’t have any 3D models available (yet)

The story & the dive

The data

  • Name: Ofoten / MS Balena
  • Type: Mail ship / Safari boat
  • Year of construction: January 1952 (Tromsö – Norway)
  • Built by: Blue-Trend
  • Length: 41.4 meters
  • Width: 7.01 metres
  • Tonnage: 520 tons
  • Engine: 1 diesel engine, Wichmann. 2-stroke/single-stroke, 4-cylinder. 600 HP. Built by Wichmann Motorfabrikk A/S, Rubbestadneset.
  • Sunk: April 12/13 2001
  • Cause: Fire
  • Depth: 2 to 10 meters
  • Location: Approx. 300 meters from the beach of the Giftun Beach Resort.
  • GPS Coordinates: N 27° 10.695′ / E 033° 49.926′

The MS Balena

The history

The MS Balena has quite a history if it comes to the namings of the schip….

  • 1951 Built as OFOTEN by Trosvik Verksted, Brevik for A/S Saltens Dampskibsselskab, Bodø. Launched 15/05.
  • 1952 Delivered in January.
  • 1977 Sold in April to Simon Møkster, Stavanger. Renamed HAVSTRIL.
  • Resold in May to Torkel Alendal, Haugesund. Renamed TRUMAN.
  • 1979 Sold to Kjell Karlsen, Haugesund.
  • 1982 Sold in October to Odino Enterprises Ltd, Panama. Laid up in Ølen.
  • 1987 Sank in storage in Ølen. Later raised and laid up again in Ølen.
  • 1989 Sold to Klaus Dietrich, Germany. Towed to Germany for refurbishment. Made two trips around Italy in May with base in Valletta, Malta.
  • 1990 Registered in Djibouti. Still made trips from Valletta.
  • 1992 Stationed in Hurghada, Egypt.
  • 1999 Sold in August to Balena Tauchreisen G.m.b.H., Paderborn, Germany. Used by James & Mac diving school in Hurghada. Renamed BALENA.
  • 2001 Observed listing in the morning 12/04 whilst at anchors. Fire on board began approx. 20:00 hours and she sank approx. 23:00 hours in 10 meters dept.
    The wreck became a very popular diving object.

Photo of the “Ofoten” from 1952, shortly after the launch.

The mail ship MS Balena was built in Tromsö, Norway, in 1952.
Originally, the MS Balena sailed for twenty-eight years as a mail ship for the city of Bodö near Narvik in Norwegian waters.
In 1987, he was linked to smuggling and seized.

The ship was then bought by a German, who sailed it through the Mediterranean Sea around Italy for two years.
In 1990, a crossing to Djibouti was planned.
But this could not be carried out due to the war in Somalia at the time, so the ship had to stay in Malta for a season.

In 1992, the Balena was stationed in Hurghada.
The new owner then turned the former mail boat into a liveaboard safari boat and started Balena Tours GmbH.
The ship did not have much success, guests even spoke of a “sickly ship” without a crew and especially without the necessary permits.
A few years later, the ship was hit by major mechanical defects.
As a result, the ship ended up making only 2 live dive safaris…..

For months, the ship lay in the immediate vicinity of Giftun Village Hotel, El Samaka Beach and Grand Hotel, completely neglected, rusting on the chain.
Divers and hotel guests report in early April 2001 that the ship made a slight list.
In the night of 12 to 13 April, a huge fire broke out on the ship, causing it to sink and end up on the sandy bottom at a depth of about 9 meters.

To this day, the exact cause has never been determined, but insurance fraud is not excluded….

Photo of the interior as a liveaboard

The wreck

Today, the wreck still lies a stone’s throw from the shore at a maximum depth of only 10 meters.
In the first years, the mast still protruded above water, but it has now also disappeared underwater.
The structures of the Balena can be clearly seen from the boat, as the wheelhouse is only 2 meters below the surface of the water.
From the surface, even the windows and portholes are clearly visible.
Snorkelers, swimmers but also divers can even reach the wreck from the beach in just 10 minutes of swimming.

Even via ‘google Earth’ the contours of the wreck can be seen!

Pictures of the wreck with the mast still above water in 2002
(Click to enlarge)

The wreck from Google Earth
(Click to enlarge)

Picture of the wreck in 2025
(Click to enlarge)

nlike other wrecks around Hurghada, the Balena is covered with soft corals, which is truly beautiful to see.
A school of small barracudas always guards the stern while bluetip rays take care of the underside.

You can’t overlook the countless nudibranchs that are on and around the wreck either.
The visibility is in contrast to other dive sites in Hurghada.
If you are lucky, the visibility here is 5 to 8 meters…..
Due to its shallow depth and easy access, the MS Balene is the ideal beginner’s wreck!

P.S. In front of the MS Balena you will also find the remains of an exploded submarine, which was towed here after a fire and then sank here.

The dive

NOTE: The visibility is 9 out of 10 times really poor!
Sometimes even less than 3 to 4 meters.
Another strange experience is that the water temperature is usually 3 degrees colder than on other dive sites around the area.

Finding the wreck will not cause any problem, as you have to be careful not to jump on top of it….

It is a very easy dive, but to miss as little as possible, it is best to start on the port side. Descend here and look carefully at the side of the ship, chances are that you will find several nudibranchs here.

Continue your dive around the tip of the ship, look around you, chances are that you will encounter a large school of small Barracudas.
Then swim along the starboard side of the ship over the bottom.
Here you will undoubtedly meet some bluetip rays and boxfish lying against the bottom of the ship. There are also lionfish around the entire wreck. Once you arrive at the stern you can see the propeller and the rudder, there are also beautiful red sponges on it !!

There is also often a school of ‘banded sweetlip’ fish here.

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Beautifull nidibranches
(Click to enlarge)

Leaffish on the deck
(Click to enlarge)

When you have looked at the rudder it is time to take off a bit and swim back towards the prow, now you pass the portholes that are beautifully overgrown with soft corals.
When you arrive at the stairs, which are located after the portholes, you can swim up the upper deck via these stairs.
Large lionfish swim around here, so some caution is in order.
The last thing you want is to accidentally come into contact with one of these beautiful animals….

Take plenty of time for everything and feast your eyes!

The only limitation you have during this dive is probably your air supply, but since you are diving at an average depth of only 4 meters I think most of you will be able to stay underwater for several hours…..

Then it’s time to swim into the wreck a bit, don’t be afraid, I’m talking about the former sun deck which you can reach through the wheelhouse area.
This ‘upper deck’ consists of an open framework of tubes over which a sail used to be stretched.

You can swim through it to the surface at almost any time.
And don’t forget, you are only at a depth of 3 meters here…..

Through the deck there is a staircase to the wheelhouse. 

In the wheelhouse (Click to enlarge)

The beautifull softcorals
(Click to enlarge)

Leaffish in the wheelhouse
(Click to enlarge)

If you are lucky you can find frogfishes and leaffishes around and near this staircase !!
But these are very difficult to find because of their superior camouflage!

Once in the wheelhouse you can swim quietly to the aft deck, you will see that you are now really swimming through an oasis of soft corals, wherever you look you can see the beautiful purple, blue, yellow and orange colored corals.

Truly a feast for the eyes !!

For those who want to penetrate the ship, this is the best point. The salon of the Balena is best reached here via the stairs on the port side, from here you can enter the wreck in different ways to view the remains of the interior.

There is just enough space for a buddy team to dive through part of the “cargo space” next to each other. If you go one floor lower to the engine room and another cabin, it becomes very cramped…….

Here I can only recommend that you take turns taking a quick look, and handle your fins very calmly.
Otherwise, your buddy won’t see much anymore…….

Remains of a microwave and some tanks
(Click to enlarge)

Stearingwheel of the forklift

The walls of the salon and engine room were completely burned away. If you do your best, you can also find diving tanks, a compressor room, a washing machine and beds inside the wreck.

There is even a forklift in the front hold…….

Take a flashlight with you at all times if you want to penetrate the wreck further, because it is pitch dark at the bottom of the ship!

Once back on the sun deck, swim further aft until you reach the bow. Here too you will be surrounded by ‘hanging gardens’ of soft corals.
Take a moment to admire it and then leave the sun deck.

A couple of meters outside the sterm you will see a bycicle standing in the sand.
The stern is beautifully overgrown and here too you have a good chance of finding nudibranchs.
You will often find the large school of small resident barracuda’s here.

The school of barracuda’s
(Click to enlarge)

A tiny colorfull crab
(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

This is the point where you can end your dive and swim back to your boat..
But as mentioned, the wreck is verry shallow, so most likely you will have plenty of air left in your tank.
No worries about your NDL as well.

So… why not make another dive around the wreck, you never know what else you might encounter here…
It’s absolutely worth it!

Short impression of the MS Balena (Click to start video)

Conclusion

The shallow water makes the Balena a perfect afternoon (or 3th) dive.
Although she has only been down for a short time, she is already covered with vibrant soft corals and bustling with marine life.

There is a remarkable diversity of marine life to be found.
Juveniles, such as a yellow boxfish, blue spotted stingrays, scorpionfish, longfin batfish, angelfish, yellowtail barracuda shelter in and around her, earning her the title of the area’s nursery. With a bit of luck you can see a crested velvet fish around the rudder. Carefully scan around the wreck to find spotted shrimpfish, leaffish and even frogfish!!
Everywhere there are huge and colorful slugs.
The rounded structure of the stern sparkling in the sunlight is breathtaking.

So, don’t forget to bring your camera on this dive.

Click to enlarge