Sharm El Sheikh · Egypt · Wreck · Reef
Kormoran / Zingara Wreck
A 1984 freighter broken up in 10 to 12 m of water
Area photo: patano · CC BY-SA 3.0
The remains of the freighter Zingara, also called the Kormoran, which ran aground on the north side of Laguna Reef in the Straits of Tiran in 1984. What is left lies in 10 to 12 m on the outer reef wall and is completely broken up. The dive is shallow, but the site is exposed and only accessible in very good weather.
Also known as Zingara, Kormoran.
Where it is and how deep
28.0044° N, 34.4842° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The wreck lies on the outer reef wall on the north side of Laguna Reef, in 10 to 12 m of water, so this is a shallow dive with a long bottom time in front of it. What you swim over is completely broken: the hull has come apart on the reef, and the dive is spent working through wreckage rather than following a recognisable ship from bow to stern.
Getting here is the harder half. The site sits on the exposed outer side of the reef and is only accessible in very good weather, so it drops off the plan as soon as there is any wind in the strait. Boats that do make it are working an outer wall in the Straits of Tiran, and the reef itself carries the dive once the wreckage runs out.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Zingara
- Type
- German freighter
- Length
- 82.4 m (270 ft)
- Sunk
- 1984
- Cause
- Ran aground on the north side of Laguna Reef in the Straits of Tiran
- Lies
- Completely broken up on the outer reef wall in 10 to 12 m
The ship was wrecked in the Straits of Tiran on 21 August 1984 and is now a recreational dive site. She was a German freighter, 82.4 m long, and divers know her under two names, Zingara and Kormoran. She ran onto the reef on the north side of the Laguna, and the hull has since gone to pieces on the outer wall, which is why the dive is a field of wreckage rather than a ship.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair |
Season follows Sharm El Sheikh: Hammerhead sightings at Tiran peak June–September; winter winds can make Tiran crossings choppier.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Zingara wreck?+
The wreckage lies in 10 to 12 m on the outer reef wall at Laguna Reef, so depth is not the constraint here. Weather is: the site sits on the exposed side of the reef and is only accessible in very good conditions.
Sources
- Kormoran / Zingara Wreck - Tiran — Scubago
- Zingara (ship) — Wikipedia
- Diving in the Straits of Tiran, Egypt — Dive The World
More dive sites in Sharm El Sheikh
Reef
Anemones holding a permanent population of anemonefish
Reef
The freighter Loullia aground on the reef since 1981
Reef
Two enormous caves filled with shoaling glassfish
Scalloped hammerheads off the back of the reef in late summer
Coral blocks from 2 to 40 m on a sea-grass bottom
Table corals still intact on a slope opened to divers recently
A column of gorgonian fans standing from 14 to 28 m
A freighter's bathroom cargo scattered across the reef at 25 m
Similar dives elsewhere
An 1869 P&O steamer rotted back to her iron ribs at 24 m
Tiles still in the holds, bow at 3 m and stern at 26 m
A 120 m lentil carrier, bow at 15 m and stern down at 32 m
Chains, cables and the 1914 Wallarah wreck under a coal jetty in 11 m