It is with deep regret that we need to inform you that VIP One has been severely damaged during fires at the Suez dry dock on the evening of Friday 29th January 2010. Fortunately, no persons were injured in the blaze, which also destroyed other well known Red Sea Liveaboards. The fire, which started on another boat, quickly became out of control and efforts by the fire crews could not prevent the fire from spreading from boat to boat, destroying everything in its path.

After the fire had been extinguished and on viewing the dry dock, we can give you an update regarding the position of VIP One. Although VIP One was affected by the fire, the proximity of the boat to the other 4 -that are truly destroyed- has meant that the damage is limited compared to the other boats.

If all goes to plan, VIP One will be back in the water and resuming normal schedule within 2-3 months. We are already making alternative arrangements for the very early part of the season should it be required.

So we will not be absent from the 2010 liveaboard scene.

Looking forward to a new season!

All bookings have been contacted regarding their reservations. If you made any bookings and haven’t received a message yet, please feel free to contact us via info@vipone.com

Technical Diver, Virginie Abrial, had the fright of her life when a huge shark passed overhead while she was filming a 100m Trimix Rebreather training dive at Shark Reef. While performing her first deco stop at 65m, Virginie, the Manager of PURE, said ‘I was looking up to get a nice shot towards the surface when I saw the very distinctive shape of a big shark cruising above us’. Virginie continued ‘I didn’t recognize the shape. The shark seemed to be ‘spiky’ with large pectoral and pelvic fins. It looked like there were fins everywhere’. The strange looking shark passed overhead and then suddenly turned around and came back straight towards them, it passed less than a metre away. I could clearly see it’s flat head and protruding teeth’. Then after two very quick, erratic body movements the 2m+ shark disappeared behind a nearby rock and was never seen again. Virginie continued ‘the moment may have lasted for less than 1 minute but it was magical’. For student Stephen, it was definitely a memorable training dive for his logbook!
The divers returned to the Red Sea College and tried to find some background information or a picture on the internet, but had no luck. They then spent some time reviewing the video footage in slow motion and on "pause" just to check out the sharks characteristics. With the aid of the reference book "Sharks of the World" by Ed Collins, they were reasonably sure they had encountered an extremely rare Snaggletooth shark (Hemipristis elongatus).

Just to confirm beyond doubt they sent the video to Jean Jaubert, the retired Director of the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco, who then passed it on to a colleague Dr Bernard Seret at the Institute de Recherché pour le Développement, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris Département Systématique et Evolution. Dr Bernard positively identified the shark as a Snaggletooth. Jean Jaubert and Dr Bernard Seret also confirmed that to their knowledge there are no known pictures or film of living Snaggletooth’s in existence. Which made Virginie’s 60 seconds of video footage extremely valuable and of great importance for future scientific research. In the past this deep water species has only been recognised and examined from dead carcasses that have been caught in fishing nets or washed up on the beach.

A few decades ago the Snaggletooth Shark was a common sighting in the Red Sea but numbers have dangerously diminished due to over fishing. The shark is now listed on the IUCN red list as a critically endangered species. Virginie said ‘I hope that this is not one of the last remaining Snaggletooth Sharks? I’m looking forward to bumping into it again at Shark Reef. Natural encounters are one of the main reasons why I like to dive with a CCR, Closed Circuit Re-breather’. PURE (Professional Underwater Rebreather Explorers) is a Tech Diver training facility based inside the Red Sea College at Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

The video footage of the Snaggletooth Shark can be seen at YouTube.

Obtaining the Master Scuba Diver certification doesn’t just set you apart as a dedicated and experienced recreational diver – it also enters you into a monthly draw, run by PADI - prizes including the PADI Encyclopaedia of Recreational Diving, PADI back packs and more!
In October 2009, Dave Glendenning, one of Susie’s guests, won the challenge and the goodies! And Susie was awarded her certificate in recognition also……
We would have told you about this earlier, but the postal service in Egypt meant it was a nice Christmas present!

Appearing somewhat like squashed trunkfish, filefish are oddly-shaped fish and not terribly good swimmers; their small fins confine the fish to a sluggish gait. Juvenile filefish are often observed drifting head downward amongst stands of seaweed, presumably in an effort to fool both predator and prey alike. Say ‘hi’ when you see them next time.

When SS Thistlegorm sailed from the River Clyde in July 1941, bound for the Middle East, it was only her fourth voyage. Unfortunately it would be her final one.


Detour
As the Mediterranean was now closed to through shipping after the loss of Crete, all supplies from Britain had to be routed round the Cape of Good Hope and up through the Red Sea. The voyage to Suez alone was well over 12,000 miles and it was a further 250 miles to Alexandria.  If the route through the Mediterranean had still been open, the voyage from Glasgow to Alexandria through the Straits of Gibraltar would have been reduced to about 4,500 miles.  The loss of Crete meant that three times as many ships were required to deliver the same quantity of supplies to the Allied Forces in Egypt round the Cape within the same timescale. An immense and much more difficult task!

Long Trip
Once loaded in Glasgow, Thistlegorm joined a convoy, part destined for Gibraltar and part for the West Indies.  These convoys were escorted until out of enemy aircraft range and then split to sail to their various destinations.  After the convoy split, Thistlegorm was ordered to sail independently to Suez. As she was sailing independently she would have largely kept clear of recognised direct shipping routes, to avoid becoming the victim of a U-boat attack. As there were radio reports of U-boat activity in the Freetown area, Thistlegorm made a further detour away from the danger area and then sailed direct to Cape Town, a voyage which took 37 days.
This length of voyage was beyond the capacity of Thistlegorm’s coal bunkers, but the possibility of this had been foreseen as the after part of hold number two contained the necessary extra coal. It is now empty but traces of coal are still there.  Food supplies must have been running low and the diet monotonous but the main complaint from the crew was that they had run out of cigarettes. 

Cape Town
At Cape Town the crated aircraft on the deck was unloaded but the Locomotives, their Tenders and Water Tenders remained. The coal bunkers were replenished and provisions topped up.  This five day stopover was a welcome break for the crew after the dreary conditions in wartime Britain.  The South African hospitality was generous and greatly appreciated by all the merchant navy crew members and the 9 naval gunners.

Suez
After a short stopover at Aden, Thistlegorm sailed up the Red Sea to an anchorage off Sha’ab Ali known euphemistically as “Safe Anchorage F”, to await clearance to transit the Suez Canal with about 20 other ships.  This gathering of ships was guarded by the Royal Navy, and they had been held there for about 10 days as the Suez Canal had been closed due to the Germans dropping bombs and mining the canal.  This was a boring interlude for the crew, as it meant waiting until the Suez Canal reopened. With the radar-equipped anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Carlisle as the guard-ship Thistlegorm was due to sail through the canal the next day.  There were no air raid warnings, the merchant ships guns were secured, leaving their protection to the Royal Navy and by midnight most of the crew had turned in.
As the ship was not moving there were no air currents to cool the ship so at night many crew members resorted to sleeping on deck, either in hammocks by the aft superstructure or on mattresses on the aft cargo hatches. It was quiet and serene in the anchorage, a brilliant full moon was up and the war still seemed far away.

On the 6th October 1941 only three people were on watch; the radio operator, keeping watch for any further movement signals, the "donkeyman" keeping the auxiliary machinery working and a seaman on anchor watch.  As the ship was due to sail the next day to the Suez Canal, steam would be supplied from the auxiliary boiler and low fires would be lit in the main boilers to prepare for steaming the next day. Unfortunately she never made it as that night the fatal attack took place at about 1.15am.

the dives into a speciality course such as “Wreck Diver” or “Deep Diver” Check out our web site for more details on the courses and how to pre-book them.

The 2010 London International Dive Show at the ExCeL Centre falls just before the start of the UK season, so it’s a great opportunity to get kitted up and genned up for the year ahead.

The LIDS hall will contain hundreds of stands, many in themed areas, such as the British Isles Experience, PADI Village, Caribbean Village and Red Sea Zone. It's like globe-trotting in miniature! Browse, chat and shop till you drop.

Come to LIDS and find Red Sea Diving College in the PADI Village at stand PV14.

Book tickets here to save £3. What's more, if you book six or more tickets you'll receive a further £1 off per ticket. .

Free online and downloadable BLUE magazine issue four is packed full of interesting articles to whet your 2010 diving and watersports appetite. Tour the Numidia with John Kean in the latest Insider’s Wreck Guide; get essential tips from compact camera expert Maria Munn on macro photography; find out why some diving doctors are calling for tougher health screens for technical divers in Talking Tech; read Sara Campbell’s frank account on what it takes to make it as a world-class competitive freediver; sail away on Sharm’s new luxury catamaran; the year’s luckiest guides also share some jaw-dropping encounter stories; plus, much, much more….
Click here to read Blue issue 4 .

During February half term 2010 the Welbeck Defence College made their 2nd annual diving trip to Red Sea Waterworld Taba Heights.

This year Red Sea Waterworld introduced 38 students to the world of diving by taking them through the 5 day PADI open water course. Red Sea Diving College (Red Sea Waterworld’s award winning sister company) was on hand again to lend a few of it’s instructors to help take care of such a large group during an extremely busy time of the year. In addition to the mammoth Open Water course, 6 students who learnt to dive on last years trip returned to make their Advanced Open Water Courses, plus Christian Carmichael, the group organizer, along with his staff enjoyed a few days fun diving while the students were being put through their paces.

The Hyatt Regency were also generous in allowing the group exclusive use of one of the many large heated swimming pools for the confined training sections of the course, while “On the Rocks” bar was transformed into 1 large classroom for the DVD and Instructor presentations.

“Red Sea Waterworld provide first class diver training in a safe and well organised environment and the resort of Taba Heights is ideal for large groups of students - everything they need is either in the hotel or in the town area and the bright lights of Dahab and Sharm are thankfully too far away”, says Christian Carmichael on why they choose where to take the group.

Since 1st January 2010 you can now have a nice cocktail or ice cold beer on the roof of the College. La Vita is a nice lounge bar where you can relax after diving. Stroll down in one of the nice seats and enjoy the music and the amazing view on the Red Sea with a cocktail in hand. Holders of our Red Sea Platinum Card receive a discount so don’t forget to bring it with you.

Take a look at the bar here.