S.S. Maidan
One of the wrecks to cause the most interest since the discovery of the Rosalie Moller is the MAIDAN; official reports put her on ROCKY ISLAND, in Southern Egypt, near the Sudanese border.
Built at Glasgow by W. Hamilton & Co , the Maidan was launched in March 1902 .At 8,205 tons ,and 500 long,58 x 32 ft 747 nhp, she was one of the biggest ships of her day. In 1919, she under went a major refit, and a new 4 cylinder quadruple expansion engine, built by Messrs D. Rowan of Glasgow. This gave her an increased speed of 14 knots. The Maidan was owned by T & J Brocklebank based in Liverpool, and earned a reputation plying the eastern Trade routes, sailing between European Ports and India.
JUNE 6TH 2003. Tipped off by a report by the DM of Excel, Grant SEARANCKE, I organised a deep air dive to identify the wreckage. My buddy was to be non other than Mr John Womack, of Otter Dry suit fame, and no stranger to wreck discoveries himself.
Our plunge down the reef face to 65mtrs found the tell tale sign that we were right on target. Hawse wires stretched across the reef base and out beyond lay huge I –beams cross members from a ships hold of immense size some 50ft across., Several lay strewn on the sea bed and a huge mast ran out into the shadowy gloom-and the shadow of a vessel beyond.
With bottom time over in minutes we left with a certainty we had found the Maidan- no other vessel could fit these dimensions
In October 2003 Grant Searancke made several solo dives armed with the information we had uncovered. At a depth of 80 mtrs Grant found the main body of the wreck, her stern upright with her hull sloping into deeper water the bow hanging over a precipice the general depth of the wreck being in 100mtrs.Grants friend, Kimo Hagman joined Grant in a deep exploratory dive, taking some detailed photographs. He reported that the bridge and companionways had collapsed.
Having seen the exclusive video footage I am convinced that we have indeed found the Maidan, although she is well beyond the range of sport divers, a deep exploration of the wreck has been arranged for February 2004.
A FULL REPORT WILL APPEAR IN THESE PAGES.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE IMAGES CURRENTLY POSTED ON THE SPORTEXTREME WEBSITE ARE INCORRECT-THEY ARE FROM THE WRECK OF THE ROSALIE MOLLER AND I HAVE ASKED THE EDITOR TO UPDATE HIS PAGE. SORRY FOR ANY CONFUSION.
This discovery now poses an interesting question; what is the identity of the deep wreck lying off Zagagad, we once thought was the Maidan…..