The AL Qamar AL Saudi AL Misr was originally built as the 7,697 GRT Roll On/Roll Off PAX-ferry Trekroner built at Cant. Nav. del Tirreno e Riuniti, Riva Trigoso, Genoa, Italy (Yard No. 281) for Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab (translation: The United Steamship Company), Copenhagen, Denmark. The keep was laid in April 1967, she was launched 27 March 1970, and she was completed on 30 March of the same year. With a crew of 67, the ship was capable of carrying 718 passengers and 120 automobiles.
On 18 June 1994 was on the return trip from Jeddah to Suez with 527 passengers and 63 crew onboard, when late during the evening a boiler explosion occurred which is said to have started a major fuel oil leak in the engine room which ignited. The resulting fire quickly spread throughout the rest of the vessel. A “Mayday” was sent from the ship and various vessels responded to the call for assistance. Lifeboats were lowered and passengers began jumping overboard to escape the spreading fire. The USS Briscoe, a US Navy Destroyer, was the ship nearest to the Al-Misr at 25-miles away, raced to the scene and acted as the On-Scene Command Center during the rescuing of passengers and crew.
Learn more about this wreck and what a great dive she is at: http://dive.im/AlQamarAlSaudiAlMisr
