wrecks_museum - 2dive4

Underwater military museum (Hurghada - Egypt)

In September 2023 the Hurghada underwater museum was inaugurated, the result of collaboration between the government and the Egyptian Armed Forces and the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA). This museum includes 15 old military vehicles of the Egyptian Army, from different eras and origins.

The locations are: Erg Gamea, Urog Eltaweel and Shaab Elsakala

Underwater military museum (Urog - Eltaweel - Hurghada - Egypt)

Hurghada established an underwater military museum as new dive sites in 2023.

The Underwater Military Museum is a pioneering idea to attract tourists to alternative sites in the Red Sea and help relieve the pressure being placed on natural reef sites which have seen an increase in visitors over recent years.

The project has been carried out by HEPCA (Hurghada Environmental Protection & Conservation Association), a non-governmental organisation of which Emperor Divers are a founder member and for whom our Red Sea general manager Luke Atkinson is a board member.

It is an innovative piece of work that has seen 15 pieces of military equipment dropped across three different locations, providing a new underwater experience while also promoting sustainable tourism.

The military vehicles ready for their final destination
(Click to enlarge)

Exploring ‘sunken antiquities’, as HEPCA describes them, is a hugely popular pastime with divers worldwide so this will instantly provide an exciting new tourist attraction for the Hurghada area.
However, within a few years the sites will also turn into natural coral reefs which will increase the stock of fish and provide valuable assistance to sustaining marine life in the Red Sea.

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

Why an underwater museum?

The 3 museum locations
(Click to enlarge)

In the azure depths off the coast of Hurghada, Egypt, a pioneering initiative is making waves in the world of marine tourism. The innovative concept is the creation of an Underwater Military Museum. This endeavour not only promises to attract more tourists to alternative destinations but also to relieve the pressures on the fragile natural coral reefs that have long been the region’s main diving attraction. Diving and snorkeling enthusiasts are in for a treat, with the opportunity to explore a captivating collection of 15 pieces of military equipment strategically placed in three distinct underwater locations, providing them with an unforgettable subaquatic experience while championing sustainable tourism practices.

The need for such a solution became evident due to the rapid development and the subsequent surge in tourist numbers experienced in the Red Sea Governorate, particularly in the bustling city of Hurghada. This development led to an unprecedented increase in diving activities on the area’s natural coral reefs. Some sites saw over 200,000 dives per year, significantly exceeding the recommended safe diving limit of 22,000 dives per site annually. This relentless exploitation threatened the very ecosystems that drew visitors in the first place

Recognising that the responsibility for preserving the environment is a shared one, the community and its organizations united to seek solutions and promote the sustainable use of the Red Sea’s unique and delicate living resources. In response, the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA) took a proactive role in addressing the excessive use of natural coral reefs.

In close collaboration with the Red Sea Reserves Sector, environmental monitoring efforts revealed the deterioration of several sites off the coast of Hurghada due to excessive diving and snorkeling activities. It was clear that action was needed to reduce the strain on these resources, shifting from passive observation to proactive measures.

(Click to enlarge)

HEPCA - Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association

HEPCA developed a vision to create artificial coral reefs by dumping predicted equipment as new diving sites in front of Hurghada. The idea received all support from the Red Sea Governorate and the Ministry of Environment. This step aims to:

1- Establishing new diving sites to relieve pressures resulting from diving on natural coral reefs.

2- Introducing and promoting the sport of diving on the sunken antiquities in Hurghada city sector, as there are many fans of diving on the sunken antiquities around the world.

3- This sunken equipment will turn within a few years into natural coral reefs and will increase the natural stock of fish.

4- Increasing the number of diving sites by adding these artificial coral reefs will allow the implementation of a plan for managing diving sites based on their absorptive capacity in terms of the number of times of diving per site per year, and thus shifting the diving industry to the sustainability of this important activity for the Egyptian national income.

5- This project has established the idea of participatory work between civil society organizations represented by the Environment Preservation Association (HEPCA), the Red Sea Reserves (Ministry of Environment) and the Red Sea Governorate to work side by side as partners in preserving and exploiting Egypt’s natural wealth, which abounds in the Red Sea. sustainably and preserved as an inherent right for future generations.

6- The success of this project will be a successful solution to the imposed use of coral reefs for diving and snorkeling purposes. It is scheduled to add four more sites in the Hurghada region in the near future for the complete transformation from excessive use of natural coral reefs to sustainable use.

7- Such a project will be one of the great steps to preserve the Egyptian coral reefs, which have been classified as one of the last coral refuges in the world, as they are deteriorating around the world as a result of climate changes, and accordingly, international organizations considered them as a hopeful spot for preserving coral on the planet, and caring for conservation With such projects, it will add to Egypt’s cultural reputation a lot

Special moments from the celebration of the official opening of the new dive sites

The project

(Click to enlarge)

Among the vehicles in the museum there are BRDM-2 armored vehicles and T-34-85 tanks of Soviet origin, Walid armored transports (an Egyptian vehicle based in the Soviet BTR-40), an M-60 Patton tank of American origin and also several BMR-600 of Spanish origin.

In order to send this material to the bottom of the sea it was necessary to remove all its liquids and also the dirt accumulated over the years, in order to avoid contaminating the waters of Hurghada.

The Egyptian Army has been the second largest operator of the Spanish BMR-600. It acquired 260 of these armored vehicles in 1986.

The vehicle’s wheels were removed before it was submerged in the sea.

On the pictures you can see the BMR-600’s wich were sent to the Hurghada underwater museum. And also the the cleaning process of one of Hurghada’s BMR-600 before sending it to the bottom of the sea.

The vehicles were taken in trucks to Hurghada and once there they were taken by boat and thrown into the sea.

The BMR-600s (Click to enlarge)

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A BRDM-2 armored vehicle being thrown into the sea.

The Egyptian Army has operated 400 vehicles of this type, most of them of Soviet origin, although it also received a hundred BRDM-2M96i manufactured by Poland.

Two Walid armored vehicles being transported on the ship that threw them into the sea.

These vehicles were manufactured in the 1960s and Egypt used them in the Six-Day War (1967), with some of them being captured by Israel.

And a picture of the Walid armored vehicle at the bottom of the sea in Hurghada, being observed by a diver.