The Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA) has said that it is 'delighted that so many of you are using the new system and that this action is directly contributing to prolonging the life of this wreck'.
But it added: 'We are disappointed by reports that some safari boats and dive guides continue to moor on the wreck itself.'
HEPCA stated that, while such practice already committed would be disregarded as 'due to a lack of awareness and knowledge', it will now act against those who drop shots into the 126m-long WWII freighter, which lies in 31m of water with first diving touch-down at about 15m.
'Following the installation of the new mooring system, mooring on the wreck is strictly forbidden and violators will be prosecuted,' it said.
The system consists of 32 mooring lines - 16 down each side of the ship, anchored in pairs and running along the seabed parallel with the ship's sides, about 5m off. However, the buoys are not at the surface but at a depth of 22m, as it 'is not possible at this location for the mooring ropes to reach any further to the surface without compromising safety'.
It would appear that some boat skippers have been tempted to drop in a shot rather than send a guide down to find and secure to a mooring line.
Requiring divers to swim across 5m of open water between the wreck and a mooring line, which doubles as a shotline once a boat is tied to it, may also be an issue. HEPCA's view is that 'any diver who cannot swim 5m from the rope to the wreck in a current should not be diving on this wreck'.
From its comment, and a diagram released by the organisation to depict the mooring system (link below), it would appear that an original plan for a system of separate diver descent and ascent lines, set over the wreck and reached by tenders deployed from moored dive boats, is not being followed through.
Where moorings had been used, said HEPCA, some had 'already been cut and damaged due to misuse'. Reiterating its request for diving visitors to use and respect the installation, it said the mooring system was preferable to a wreck management plan, which it had opposed.
This would have been the alternative brought in by the Egyptian Government, with 'a substantial increase in fees and dramatic limitations on diver numbers'.
In pushing for a moorings system, HEPCA had 'trusted in the conscience and commitment of all Red Sea stakeholders to support our mooring plans as the only acceptable solution to sustaining the wreck of the SS Thistlegorm and our ability to continue diving her'.
A mooring system is due to be installed next month on another wreck, the Rosalie Moller, as part of HEPCA's Saving the Red Sea Wrecks campaign.
A diagram showing the nature of the Thistlegorm moorings can be seen at www.hepca.com/thistlegorm-mooring-system.aspx
Related links
Thistlegorm re-opens
Work starts to ease Thistlegorm pressure
Time out for Thistlegorm
Plan to close top Red Sea wrecks
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