Rosalie Moller

Overview

The Rosalie Moller is the Red Sea's connoisseur wreck: a 110m steamer sitting perfectly upright and astonishingly intact on the sand off Gubal Island, often mentioned in the same breath as the Thistlegorm but with a fraction of the crowds. The catch is depth. She rests deep, in frequently silty water, which keeps the casual day-tripper away and rewards experienced and technical divers with a hauntingly atmospheric, coral-encrusted ship to themselves. This is a serious dive, not a sightseeing stop.

The Dive

The wreck lies upright on a sandy seabed at around 50m, with the main deck near 35m and the tops of the masts rising to about 18m. Even the shallowest structure is at recreational-limit depth, and the holds, engine room, bridge and propeller sit deeper still, so this is firmly a deep dive: realistically a technical dive, or at the very least the domain of seasoned Advanced divers running nitrox or trimix with conservative planning, a descent line and full deco discipline. Visibility is often modest, between 10 and 20m, thanks to silt in the water, which only adds to the wreck's brooding atmosphere. Current is usually light to moderate but the depth leaves no margin, so dives are tightly planned around bottom time and gas.

Marine Life

Three quarters of a century underwater has turned the hull into an artificial reef, encrusted in soft and hard coral and busy with life. Schools of snapper, barracuda and glassfish hang around the superstructure, groupers hold station in the shadows, and lionfish and reef fish work the rails. The intact, coral-draped masts and deck make her as photogenic as she is historic, light permitting.

History

The ship began life in 1910 as the Francis, built by Barclay, Curle & Co. in Glasgow. In 1931 she was sold to the Moller Line and renamed Rosalie Moller, registered in Shanghai under the British flag. In October 1941, requisitioned for the war effort and carrying best Welsh coal, she was anchored in the Gubal Strait two nights after the Thistlegorm had been sunk nearby. On 8 October 1941 a German bomber found her; a bomb struck the number 3 hold and she went down, taking two of her crew with her. She lay undiscovered until 1993, and her relative inaccessibility has kept her one of the best-preserved wrecks in the Red Sea.

Good to Know

Best conditions run spring through autumn. She lies off the western side of Gubal Island and is reached almost exclusively by liveaboard on northern Red Sea wreck itineraries, frequently paired with the Thistlegorm. Given the depth, silt and penetration temptation, treat the Rosalie Moller with full respect: appropriate certification, gas planning and a war grave's due reverence are non-negotiable.