Our News

HEPCA 2011 Review - Mooring Project

Almost 20 years ago the diving and snorkelling industry of the Red Sea expanded to an extent that anchoring damage on reefs became a very visible and serious threat to the marine ecosystem. For this reason HEPCA was founded in order to establish a mooring system to protect marine life. By placing mooring buoys on dive sites and therefore preventing boats from anchoring on reefs, the Red Sea was able to cope with the increasing number of boats, divers and snorkelers. Now, two decades later, we are glad that the mooring project is still one of, or maybe even the most successful project we are running. With more than 1400 mooring public use buoys in place, the Egyptian Red Sea has the largest public mooring system in the world, an exemplary system for reef protection. Our mooring team is out at sea almost every day checking, maintaining, replacing and installing moorings between El Gouna and the Sudanese border. To list all the dive sites that the mooring team has worked on this year, would violate the size restrictions for this article, but it can be said that there are hardly any that have not been visited by our team; and there are others that have been visited up to 14 times. In 2011 we have facilitated the reporting of missing and damaged moorings; a mooring report from can be found on our website and reports can be directly sent to [email protected], in order to make communication easier. However, to make sure that fewer reports are necessary, we ask all boat operators to please follow the rules and regulations for proper mooring out at sea. And for those that still have not learnt: stop anchoring at or tying your ropes to the reef! 2011 also ends for us with exciting news: only a few days ago our new boat arrived, which will improve working conditions for our mooring team and also work as a patrol boat. We have been saving up for this boat for a long time (please understand that for this reason we will not be able to attend the BOOT in Düsseldorf in 2012). The new vessel will start working in early 2012, so keep your eyes open out at sea! Our thanks go to the diving centres and boat operators, who have supported us this year by providing our team with vessels, and other logistic and morale support. Our work in many spots would not have been possible without your support! And our New Year resolution for 2012: KEEP MOORING!