The Kimon M (Abu Nuhas - Egypt)
The Kimon M or the “Lentil Wreck” is actually one of two ships that wrecked here while transporting lentils. The other is the SeaStar, but that lies at 90 meter of depth. Kimon M is the largest and deepest of the four wrecks possible for recreational divers.
This article was is part of the “Get wrecked” series written by Edwin and originally published in the diving magazine of Lucky Divers Rotterdam (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.
Click to view the original article as PDF (Dutch)
The Kimon M (Abu Nuhas - Egypt)
The Kimon M or “the Lentil Wreck” is actually one of two ships that wrecked here while transporting lentils. The other is the SeaStar, but that lies at 90 meter of depth.
The Kimon M is the largest and deepest of the four wrecks possible for recreational divers on Abu Nuhas.
It sank in 1978 on its way from Turkey to India. No lives were lost. It measured approximately 120 metres but now has lost some of that to the sea.
Much of Kimon M’s bow is now a scattered field of debris.
At first, it was shallower but the sea conditions caused it to slip down the reef, meaning its deepest part is just over 30 meters and its shallowest is around 15 metres.
This is commonly the first wreck of the day to be dived due to the decompression limits.
NOTE: We make use of “Sketchfab” click HERE to view the navigation controls
Click on the 3D model below to move it around
All credits to the above Photogrammetry model goes out to Holger Buss
The story & the dive
The data
- Type : Cargo ship
- Length : 106.4 meters.
- Width: 14.8 meters.
- Draught: 6.81 metres
- Tonnage : 3,714 tonnes
- Engine: 4 stroke, 8 cylinder Diesel engine, WUMAG GmbH, Hamburg
- Power: 2940 HP
- Speed: 13 knots
- Launched: August 1952
- Shipyard: H.C. Stülcken & Sohn
- Construction number: 770
- City: Hamburg (Germany)
- First shipping company: Willy Bruns GmbH Hamburg
- Last shipping company: Janissios Shipping Co. S.A. Panama
- Cargo of last voyage: Lentils (4500 tonnes)
- captain last voyage: Juan Cavilieri
- Sunk : 12 December 1978
- Location: 27 34 48″ N, 33 56 00″E. North East Corner of Shaab Abu Nuhas Reef
- Depth : 6 to 32 meters.
The “Brunsbuttel” being launched in 1952
(Click to enlarge)
The Brunsbuttel Byelours II
(Click to enlarge)
Another picture of the Brunsbuttel
The story
The Kimon M was the same in tonnage, size and age as the Chrisoula K. The Kimon M, built in 1952 in Hamburg (Germany) at Stuicken & Sohn and was a cargo ship with a capacity of 3,714 tons. She had a 4 stroke 8 cylinder diesel engine also built in Hamm by Waggon & Masch.
The ship once had another name, the “Brunsbuttel Byelourus II”.
In 1953 the ship was sold and given the name “Ciudad Ce Cucuta” until it was sold again in 1964 and then received the name “Angela”.
In 1971 the ship was sold again and from then on it was given the name “Kimon” in 1975 the ship was sold for the last time to the “Ianissos Company in Panama”, this shipping company added the “M” to its name.
The Loss of the Kimon M
In December 1978, the ship was on its way with 4,500 tons of lenses (hence its nickname: “Lentil Wreck.”) from the Turkish port of Iskenderun to Bombay under the Panamanian flag.
After the ship had passed the Suez Canal and then arrived in the wider part of the Strait of Gubal, the captain thought that he had already passed the most dangerous part of his passage and left the command to his officers and then went below deck to sleep.
However, it didn’t take long for him to be rudely awakened when his ship rammed the North-East corner of Sha’b Abu Nuhas Reef at full speed on December 12, 1978.
A passing freighter, the “Interasja,” responded immediately to the distress signal from the Kimon M and disembarked all crew and delivered them to Suez 2 days later.
The impact hit the ship on the reef itself where she remained upright for several days (during these days a large part of the cargo was disembarked).
Wind and currents pushed the ship to its starboard side (right) then the ship was stuck on the reef for several days until it was finally damaged by the strong current to such an extent that it slowly slid off the reef.
The Kimon M, one day after collision
(Click to enlarge)
The distress signal sent out was immediately picked up by the ‘Interasja’, a passing cargo ship. He picked up the crew and delivered it 2 days later to the port of Suez. The ship floated against the reef for another 2 days, but slowly slid off the reef when the bow broke off.
The ship is now against the reef with the bow pointing against the reef.
The wreck starts at about 6 meters with a maximum depth of about 32 meters at the stern.
It has been broken in half and now lies on its starboard side at the foot of the reef.
That is why the holds are very easily accessible for divers.
A large hole has also been made in the hold to store most of the engine, making the engine room freely accessible.
Through the cracks and holes, a unique play of light is created that makes the atmosphere in the wreck fantastic!
Remains of the bow of the Kimon M on top of the reef
The wreck is not yet spectacularly overgrown with coral, this simply needs more time.
But nevertheless, quite a bit of coral has settled on the wreck over the years.
The ship lies at a maximum depth of 32 meters at an angle of 90 degrees.
On the reef of Sha’ab Abu Nuhas is notorious: there are no fewer than four wrecks quite close together.
That shows how treacherous this area is (was) for shipping.
In addition to the Kimon M., there are also the wrecks of the Chrisoula K, the Marcus, Carnatic and the Giannis D.
In the past, the wrecks were sometimes mixed up with each other, but with today’s satellite navigation equipment, this will rarely be the case anymore.
The propeller and rudder are still intact, and are at 27m.
The winches of the ship are at 16m and the bowmast at 4m.
The wreck is fairly covered with soft corals and you will also find anthias fish and batfish here.
The Abu Nuhas reef with its wrecks
(Click to enlarge)
(Click to enlarge)
Lloyds List - for 13 December 1978, contained the following item:
“KIMON M. (Panamanian). Port Said Dec 12 – MV Kimon M, Iskenderun for Bombay with about 4,500 tons of Lentils, reported stranded near Safaga, exact position still to be ascertained.
All crew reportedly abandoned vessel and rescued by MV Interasja, arriving Suez Dec 13-14. (Note Kimon M had passed Suez Dec. 10.)”
Lloyds List - for 14 December 1978, updated information:
“KIMON M. (Panamanian). London, Dec 12 – Kimon M struck wreck in position crossbar. 27 35N, long. 33 55 E. Strait of Gubal. Vessel requires tug assistance on Lloyds open form (See issue of Dec 13.)”
It is not known which wreckage the Kimon M claims to have hit before it ran aground on the reef. This was almost 3 years before the Chrisoula K would run aground, but it is known that several ships had run aground here that were later refloated. Perhaps such a stranded ship gave the impression that they were in deep water, and that the Kimon M. just wanted to sail around it.
More important is the location given by Lloyds, because that is exactly the place where we can still find the Kimon M. today!
Initial examinations immediately reported that the damage to the hull was so extensive that it was considered a “total loss.”
(Click to enlarge)
The dive
At the front of the wreck it is only 6 meters deep, the seabed at the base of the reef is between 25-27 meters.
The hole in the ship where the engine was removed is located at a depth of about 17 meters, from there it gradually gets deeper until you reach the stern near the seabed at about 32 meters.
At the bow, storms and rough seas have turned the front of the ship into a large area of debris.
However, the rest of the wreck itself offers a very exciting dive.
It is as if the ship has been cut in half from the 2nd hold, with the only debris field and the remains of the front mast at the front.
Immediately after the 2nd hold is the engine room, the partition between the two has disappeared.
This is, however, one of the most exciting underwater scenes of the wreck. And for that reason it is also beautiful to photograph.
Start the dive at the front of the vessel, but be careful not to get too shallow and too close to the reef. The waves can just cause you to end up against or on the reef with all its consequences.
This part is the least interesting, here you will mainly find rubble and rubbish.
Drawing of the Kimon M wreck.
(Click to enlarge)
The opening from which the motor was removed
Start the dive at the front of the vessel, but be careful not to get too shallow and too close to the reef. The waves can just cause you to end up against or on the reef with all its consequences.
This part is the least interesting, here you will mainly find rubble and rubbish.
So swim directly from the bow towards the middle of the ship, to a depth of around 17 meters, here you will find the hole that was cut by the salvage team at the time to salvage the engine.
Once you arrive at the hole, lower yourself a bit into the wreckage. (This is a big hole so you don’t have to penetrate the wreck here)
The view from here towards the remains of hold No. 2 is truly breathtaking.
It is as if you are looking through a large diorama with divers hanging beautifully in the sunlight against the reef.
In the hold you may encounter a group of Batfishes.
If you now look the other way you will come across the remains of the engine room.
For those who want to penetrate the wreck, this is the ideal entrance, penetration is easy because of the spacious entrance and the large hold.
The removal of the engine gives easy access to all parts of this hold, despite the removal of the engine there is still plenty for divers to see and explore.
The stern of the Kimon M
Beautifull corals on the deck
On the sides there are numerous pressure valves, valves, vents, dials and gauges of all sizes.
There are pipes and railings that extend in all directions, steel ladders, now tilted and at the wrong angle, and metal aisles that are now on their sides.
All in all, as a diver you get a good idea of what it was like when the ‘Chief Engineer’ and his employees did their work.
Inside one of the cabins
The gigantic propeller
Leave the wreck from the hole again, now follow the wreck all the way down on the port side in the direction of the stern where the large propeller and rudder are located.
(Experienced wreck divers can also swim inside and leave the wreck through the opening of cargo hold 2, but this is not recommended for less experienced wreck divers !!)
It is definitely worth swimming around the stern here, keep in mind that it is about 30 to 35 meters deep here !! But it is certainly a great photo opportunity to capture the ship from this place towards the reef. The gigantic propeller is also worth a ‘kodak moment’.
Continue your dive by swimming back along the wreck on the bottom, leaving the bottom of the ship for what it is, it is not interesting to view.
So swim back ‘over’ (along) the decks towards the mast.
The area between the bow and the mast is interesting and offers a variety of different interests, experience and for diving levels.
For the more experienced diver, penetration through the various accommodation rooms to the engine room is possible, for others there is the masts which are beautifully overgrown and harbor a lot of life.
A dive into the open cargo holds and leave the accommodation without penetration is also possible, and of course you should not skip a visit to the bridge.
Machinery in the engineroom
Cargo hold
The mast
The wheelhouse
This part is the least damaged, the stern is still reasonably intact complete with bollards, capstans, railings etc.
The deck itself is already fairly overgrown (vertically of course) with small corals and also offers protection for all the popular fish species that you can also expect on the nearby reef.
Away from the deck, the main masts are parallel to the seabed.
Although one of the booms still defies the laws of gravity by standing straight up and thus manages to get to about 6 meters below the surface.
As indicated, a visit to the wheelhouse is definitely recommended, it is easy to penetrate, but also offers the possibility to view it completely from the outside.
After this visit you have 2 options to end your dive, either you swim back towards the reef where you can gradually keep your ascent and stop, or you go from the wheelhouse towards the vertical mast where you can also make your ascent and stop.
The latter is safer as you don’t run the risk of being pushed against the reef.
Dive details
(Click to enlarge)
* NOTE: Due to the depth at least AOWD if you want to view the propeller and stern!!