Red Sea Liveaboard Sinking

[RedSeaDiver2]

Surely the fuel and water tanks would be below passenger and crew quarters, low in the boat, and have a reduced effect on the listing, but if they didn't have baffles and weren't full, sloshing could be a problem. I'd still be leery of an all-inclusive boat charging $70/day for transportation, food & wine, diving, and all. That "show must go on" attitude the group must have felt after all of the planning and traveling left them too open to accepting a lot of safety shortcomings before the boat left the dock I think. Then it was too late to get off.

$70 per day - OK that should have been a red flag right there!

 

[DandyDon]

why didn't anyone refuse to get on that boat or stay on that boat once they saw the problems?

That "show must go on" attitude the group must have felt after all of the planning and traveling left them too open to accepting a lot of safety shortcomings before the boat left the dock I think. Then it was too late to get off.

And, it was a group of friends from various countries as well so there would be some pressure about abandoning the friends.

Or start raising hell to the captain and staff about what was going on.

One, you hope that the captain is a professional who knows what he's doing, and two, there was an apparent language barrier with much of the crew.

it really reinforces the burden on the passenger to do your due diligence before making that reservation, giving them all your money upfront with no refunds, and fly around the world to get on the boat.

The Tripadvisor page was full of glowing reviews until these passengers started posting.

 

[RedSeaDiver2]

Maybe I need to visit a few liveaboards in the RS and do a safety audit and rate them...
There was a fire on a liveaboard just off Hurghada nearly a year ago that destroyed that boat and I did ask someone who is a part-owner of another well known liveaboard there about fire suppression systems in the engine room and he basically said that no liveaboards there bother to fit them. I'm planning on having them fitted to the day boats when I get my dive centre up and running...

 

[RedSeaDiver2]

I guess I could go to Egypt and perform inclining experiments for Egyptian liveaboards, but there some excellent Naval Architects there already. The folks who built my liveaboard have a shipbuilding facility in Egypt.

So I guess it's a matter of not caring rather than not knowing how to perform stability calcs.

Is that the yard that build mostly small naval vessels?

 

[Dan]

I've been thinking about this. I've never been on a liveaboard, but how would you choose? Except for online reviews... This boat was brand new... The big issue is that it's all chosen online, booked and paid in advance. And no refund if you just don't board (nor if it sinks, as it seems...). The crew had explanations for the tilting and it straightened out once leaving harbor. I don't think I'd have cancelled my stay to be honest. I'm also not very experienced but many of the divers on this boat were...

Several posters afterwards pretty much answer your question. Most of the liveaboard trips are pretty safe & enjoyable. However, like the saying “One bad apple can spoil the barrel”. So I just want to share my experience on 30 liveaboards (more than that if you count repeated trips on the same liveaboards, some were up to 3-5 times) without any problem that affected the trip. I had great times on all of them.

How did I get such luck? First of all, I don’t want to be a Guinea Pig, i.e., I won’t go on a new boat. Also, I read trip reports of those boats, including boat accidents such as this one, before deciding to go on a liveaboard trip.

No matter how you prepare for it, “Sh!t happens”. Sometimes I did get lucky timing wise. For example, in 2019, I reviewed Red Sea Aggressor 1 that seemed to show being a good boat to be on. So, I booked for December 2019. Guess what, the boat burnt down and sank in October 2019. Aggressor hired a temporary replacement, Scuba Scene, for my trip. That trip went well and I posted my trip report, here, Trip Report - BDE Trip Report, 21-28 December, 2019 . Then few months after my trip, Scuba Scene sank too. Another fire on a Red Sea LOB

There are some physical attributes that make you leery about going on certain liveaboards. The one that got me thinking on this boat is the top heavy, long and skinny look of it. From the picture, below, the 42m long, 8.5m wide and 15m high above the water line just don’t make me feel relax to be on it.

Courtesy of carltonfleet.com

 

[Searcaigh]

Saying that, the reviews of the Carlton Fleet were all quite positive, until that day..

Not really, I've just read a few.

Carlton Fleet diving live a board (Sharm El Sheikh) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go

www.tripadvisor.com

 

[scubaozy]

How did I get such luck? First of all, I don’t want to be a Guinea Pig, i.e., I won’t go on a new boat.

I was on Nautilus 2 Maldives on its maiden voyage and there were a lot of small problems because its very hard to keep the deadlines in a developing country. Yes, things did not run that smoothly but it was safe, Austrian owner him self was there and did his best to keep everything pleasent. We eventually all got a free pass for another week for free.
I know the owner of one of the newer boats, he brought in a group with a discount for the maiden voyage, in turn people were prepared for problems. New boats usually offer a discount until they can iron out the bugs and get some good reviews. It could be the case here as well.
There are absolutely no guaranties on a LoB, its a very volatile environment with a lot of things that can go wrong. Even good companies lost their boats, to fire.
Does someone knows how many voyages this boat had under its belt?

 

[DandyDon]

Not really, I've just read a few.

Carlton Fleet diving live a board (Sharm El Sheikh) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go

www.tripadvisor.com

I think most reviews were good until these divers posted photos and comments.

 

[Wookie]

Is that the yard that build mostly small naval vessels?

Yes. We know it as Swiftships over here.

 

[Wookie]

Does someone knows how many voyages this boat had under its belt?

Upthread it was mentioned that this was the second voyage.