| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Kormoran (1963–1976) Adamastos (1963–1980) Zingara (1980–1984) |
| Owner: | Montemare di Navigazione S.P.A. |
| Port of registry: | Naples |
| Builder: | Rostock Shipyard |
| Launched: | 1963 |
| Fate: | Wrecked, 1984 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Cargo ship |
| Length: | 82.4 m (270 ft 4 in) |
| Beam: | 12.7 m (41 ft 8 in) |
| Propulsion: | 6-cylinder diesel engine |
| Speed: | 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
Zingara was a general cargo vessel that was shipwrecked in the Straits of Tiran in the Red Sea in 1984 and is now a recreational diving site.
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Kormoran was a general cargo vessel built in the Rostock shipyards in 1963 in the former East Germany. She was 82.4 meters (270 feet) length and 12.7 meters (42 feet) width. In 1976 her name was changed to Adamastos, and in 1980, her new owner renamed her Zingara. She was powered by a 6-cylinder diesel engine capable of giving her a top speed of 12 knots. The Zingara was owned and operated by Montemare di Navigazione S.P.A. and registered in Naples at the time of her loss.[1]
The Zingara sailed from the Jordanian port of Aqaba on August 21, 1984 with a cargo of phosphate. The following day she hit the northern side of the Laguna Reef bordering Tiran Island. Either the captain decided to save time and wrongly sought to head south down the eastern channel against any oncoming traffic, and was piling on the speed in order to get through as quickly as possible, or he simply made an error in navigation. The impact was tremendous that she lost almost all of her bow.[1]
A very small part of the top of the stern breaks the surface, thus acting as an ideal marker for the start of the dive. In every direction the diver is treated to a magnificent underwater terrain of hard corals at their finest and many of these are now firmly attached to various features of the wreck. The stern rests over on its port side at an angle of about 45 degrees. Large steel plates lie across the seabed and one pair of deck winches lies upside down with hard coral having already become very firmly established.[1]