Egyptian Passenger Ferry Sinks

[Marek K]

Oh, no. Another passenger ferry sinks in the Red Sea, on its way from Saudi Arabia to Safaga. Apparently Hajj pilgrims.

I'm afraid the loss of life will go a lot higher than 15...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060203/ap_on_re_mi_ea/egypt_ship_sinks

My deepest condolences to my Egyptian friends.

--Marek

 

[Dive-aholic]

They've reported only about a dozen survivors so far, and dozens of bodies recovered. The ship was carrying over 1300. It's not looking good.

 

[texdiveguy]

Just heard a news bleep on the radio,,,,very tragic.

 

[bathbiggles]

Blimey...

Sky News says its the same shipping company that was operting the Salem Express in 1991. So far both ferrys seem to have sunk under very similar circumstances.

Its odd - last night i was editing photos of an '04 Salem dive.

Tragic.

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

Sad...

 

[skippy77]

any body got an update on this subject it is a shame to hear so many ppl lost there lives

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Oh, no. Another passenger ferry sinks in the Red Sea, on its way from Saudi Arabia to Safaga. Apparently Hajj pilgrims.

I'm afraid the loss of life will go a lot higher than 15...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060203/ap_on_re_mi_ea/egypt_ship_sinks

My deepest condolences to my Egyptian friends.

--Marek

These are not Hajj pilgrims. It is not the Hajj time. They're Egyptians working in Saudi Arabia.
This one is Al Salaam 98, while Al Salaam 95 already sank several months ago:06:

 

[MoonWrasse]

any body got an update on this subject it is a shame to hear so many ppl lost there lives

Sure.

It was a RORO ferry, they tend to sink very quickly (a few minutes top) as happened in northern Europe in the 80s.



Dozens of Bodies, Survivors in Red Sea

By SALAH NASRAWI, Associated Press Writer

Friday, February 3, 2006
(02-03) 09:20 PST CAIRO, Egypt (AP) --

An Egyptian ferry carrying about 1,300 people sank in the Red Sea early Friday during bad weather, and rescue ships and helicopters pulled dozens of survivors and bodies from the water. Some 180 escaped on lifeboats, an official said.

Most of the passengers were Egyptian workers returning from their jobs in Saudi Arabia. At least four Saudi and four Egyptian ships were involved in the search effort, arriving about 10 hours after the 35-year-old ferry was believed to have sank.

As darkness descended Friday at the site, some 40 miles off the Egyptian port of Hurghada, there were fears the death toll could be extremely high. Any survivors still in the Red Sea could go into shock as temperatures fell in the already cold waters, which average in the upper 60s in February.

Egyptian regulations require life jackets on the boat, but implementation of safety procedures are often lax. It was not known if the ship had enough life jackets and whether the passengers put them on when the ship sank.

An official at the maritime authority control room in Suez said at least 20 bodies and 30 survivors were pulled from the water. He said about 150 more survivors were still known to be on lifeboats. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

A spokesman for the Egyptian Embassy in London, Ayman al-Kaffas, told The Associated Press that "dozens of bodies" had been pulled out of the water.

British naval officials initially diverted a warship to the scene but later abandon its rescue efforts, a defense spokesman said in London, declining to explain why. Egyptian authorities accepted a U.S. offer to divert a P3-Orion maritime naval patrol aircraft to the area after initially saying it wasn't needed, U.S. officials said.

Saudi ships were patrolling waters off their shore to hunt for survivors, but found none, a senior Saudi security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

The 35-year-old ship, "Al-Salam Boccaccio 98," went down between midnight and 2 a.m. as most of the passengers were sleeping.

The cause was not immediately known, but there were high winds and a sandstorm overnight on Saudi Arabia's west coast.

"It's a roll-on, roll-off ferry, and there is big question mark over the stability of this kind of ship," said David Osler of the London shipping paper Lloyds List. "It would only take a bit of water to get on board this ship and it would be all over. ... The percentage of this type of ferry involved in this type of disaster is huge."
...
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/02/03/international/i085332S19.DTL

 

[mania]

Terrible tragedy.
My condolences to all families.
Mania

 

[MoonWrasse]

They're now reporting 263 of the 1800 have survived. Unfortunately I wouldn't expect the survival rate for that kind of ferry sinking to exceed 20%.