Popular Egyptian 'strong man' goes for another jaw-dropping challenge: Pulling a ship with his teeth

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HURGHADA, Egypt (AP) — With nothing but grit, muscle and an iron jaw, a hugely popular Egyptian wrestler geared up for an extraordinary challenge Saturday: pulling a 700-ton ship across the water with a rope held only by his teeth.

“Today, I have come to break the world record,” Ashraf Mahrous said in an interview in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Hurghada after the challenge.

It was no easy task but Ashraf Mahrous, also known by his nickname Kabonga, has dazzled before with his astonishing strength. Earlier this year, he pulled a train. He has also singlehandedly pulled a locomotive and four years ago, a truck.

With each achievement, his popularity has soared — children run after him in the streets, where he's known simply as “strong man.”

With the ship pull, Mahrous, a 44-year-old native of the port city of Ismalia, hopes to get yet another recognition from the Guinness World Records.

The scene was set Saturday at the shore in Hurghada. Mahrous first pulled a 700-ton ship, and to affirm his challenge he pulled two ships weighing approximately 1,150 tons together.

“I pulled them both, thanks to God, to prove to my friends and the whole world that God blessed me by being the strongest man in the world,” Mahrous said.

He said the current Guinness World Record is a 614-ton ship set in 2018.

Mahrous said he will send videos and photos of his attempt to Guinness World Records to be evaluated.

In preparation for the feat, Mahrous followed a protein- and iron-rich diet, consuming at least a dozen eggs, two whole chickens, and 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of fish every day — all while training for two hours, three times a day.

It wasn't his first ship pull. Six years ago, he tried for two hours before he managed to pull a 4,000-ton ship in the water, a rope strapped to his shoulders, for about 30 meters (yards). The event was caught on video.

″I grunted and yelled as I pulled the ship, and I spoke to it, saying ‘It’s either me or you today,’" he told The Associated Press recently at his local gym in Cairo, where he trains daily.

Mahrous believes that speaking with the object he pulls beforehand helps him establish a connection and is key to his success. “It’s important for me to treat the object that I will pull as part of my body that moves along with my heart beat,” he said.

Mahrous, 190 centimeters (6 feet 3 inches) tall and weighing 155 kilograms (341 pounds), said his strength emerged early.

As a child, he would carry his friends for fun and haul heavy loads, several gas cylinders at once on a wheelbarrow. He was 9 when his father lost his job as a contractor in Iraq and after that, Mahrous began knocking on doors, offering to lift heavy items for some cash.

Once, he accidentally broke a friend’s arm when he tried to pull him as they played. He helped people move bricks, sandbags and other heavy materials — and he was fast. He loved sports and trained in kung fu, kickboxing and even established a wrestling team in Cairo.

It was only when his friends saw him easily flip giant tires 10 times in a row in a deserted courtyard at their gym and push a car using only a finger that they encouraged him to go for a world record.

“I was inspired by people who broke records and felt like they are no better than me,” he said. Now he's less fearful of injuries and more concerned about failing to accomplish a pull.

In March, he was formally recognized by Guinness World Records for the heaviest rail pull: He pulled a train weighing 279 tons with a rope held by his teeth for a distance of nearly 10 meters (33 feet). At the time, he received two other certificates, for the heaviest locomotive pull and for the fastest 100-meter road vehicle pull.

Mahrous, who is also president of the Egyptian Federation for Professional Wrestlers, was previously recognized by Guinness in June 2021, for pulling a 15,730-kilogram truck with his teeth. And in February 2024, the international franchise recognized him for cracking and eating 11 raw eggs in 30 seconds.

He wears a mouthguard during pulling events but says he has no concerns about his teeth. Instead of going to a dentist, he uses a miswak — a traditional teeth-cleaning twig rich in anti-bacterial compounds that help prevent decay.

He says he takes no supplements but eats, sleeps and works out at least twice every day.

His ambitions are far from over. Next, he plans to send a request to the Egyptian presidency for permission to pull a 263,000-ton submarine.

He also hopes someday to pull a plane using only his eyelid muscles.

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Khaled reported from Cairo.