MS Balena

The MS Balena is a steel ship measuring 41.4 m by 7.01 m, built in 1952 in Tromsø, Norway. For 28 years, she served as a supply and mail ship for the town of Bodø. In 1987, she was seized for smuggling and sold to a German businessman, and from 1992 she was based in Hurghada, running dive cruises. After months at anchor, rusting near the Giftun Village hotel, she caught fire at around 8 p.m. on the night of 12 to 13 April 2001 and sank within three hours. The cause of the fire was never clarified.

Part of the wreck's structure sits above the surface of the water. In 2006, in front of the bow lay the remains of a dive boat that had exploded and been towed there in flames, with two MAN diesel engines, cylinders, tanks and a refrigerator.

In a sheltered bay, the wreck works as a nursery for young fish, and there are also schools of adult fish. Since the sinking, many hard and soft corals have settled on the hull. In 2011, there were many small animals there, such as nudibranchs, and large ones, such as trevallies, barracudas and batfish, with part of the hull covered in soft coral. Now and then a turtle drops by, and dolphins have been seen by divers at the wreck.