Million Hope - Sunk for a decade
Posted By Mark Jones on 24 July 2006
In less than a decade, one of the Red Sea's best wrecks has all but been destroyed. The damage caused to the surrounding reef means that without the wreck it is a largely unimpressive dive. In fact, it is now better to dive a nearby wreck on the other side of the Straits that sank under similar circumstances. The Kormoran that lies in about 14m of water on the east side of Jackson Reef has become a much better dive as it combines it's wreckage amongst some of the most impressive hard corals that the Red Sea has to offer. There's no doubt that the Kormoran is a great dive and there are no end of divers who continue to claim the Thistlegorm as the most impressive wreck in the Red Sea. Either way, it was a privilege to be able to dive the Million Hope while it was still in its prime and it is a shame that so many other divers didn't get the chance to do the same, that said, with the record of shipping in the Red Sea, it shouldn't be too long until the Million Hope is replaced by an equally impressive newer wreck!
The Million Hope Stats:
- Launched as Ryusei Maru in 1972
- Displaced 26, 181 grt
- Measured 174.6m by 24.8m
- Draught of 10m
- Bulk Carrier with 5 cargo holds inc. additional vehicles transporting facilities
- Two 6 cylinder diesel engines 11,600bhp
- Top speed 17knots.
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- what are these?
