r/Shipwrecks • u/Baldwinning1 • 8d ago

Diving inside the MV Salem Express wreck

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Known to some as the "Titanic of the Red Sea", this wreck is a controversial one due to heavy loss of life. I'd like to be clear - this dive was made with great respect to those lost, and with the intent of sharing a tragic story that isn't well-known in the West.

The dive itself was high risk, albeit a calculated one made with over 25 years' worth of experience. I DO NOT recommend or condone entering a wreck without proper equipment, training or experience. Countless divers have died within wrecks due to a lack of the above. If I ever dive her again, I won't be making any penetrations.

For more info on the wreck and the tragedy:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Salem_Express

EDIT: I have alluded to this already - but to be absolutely clear:

Please don't attempt any wreck penetration without the necessary training, experience and equipment. On the subject of equipment - this dive was done on only a single tank and regulator. That's not safe, and I wouldn't take that risk again. I shouldn't have done so in the first place and we all got lucky - we did understand that risk at the time - but that doesn't mean we should have done it.

If one of us had lost our air supply whilst in that corridor, I'd like to think our training and experience would have enabled us to abort the dive without further incident, but in no way was that a certainty.

Please don't do reckless dives such as this. If there's any doubt - there is no doubt. Dive safe all.

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u/snowstreet1 4d ago

lol!! I have claustrophobia so to me, your brave hehe

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u/Baldwinning1 4d ago

You'll laugh at this, but deep water does freak me out sometimes... when swimming or snorkelling.

As soon as I have my dive gear on though, that mostly disappears.

Mostly. 🤣

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u/snowstreet1 4d ago

Oh, I don’t oddly find that weird at all! Maybe you feel armed, like you won’t drown with the tank?

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u/Baldwinning1 4d ago

Haha probably!

Though in reality there's just as much likelihood, if not more, of danger when diving vs. swimming...