Unknown Sea Story lob sinks

[scubaozy]

As far as I know, center of gravity did not play a part in any of the other liveaboard disasters in Egypt. Fire seems to be the number 1 danger, and running aground seems number 2.

Exactly my thoughts, rogue wave claim is for me a little too much outside of the norm, so, I would need more evidence and accounts of different people, especially the guests for me to conclude that.

The Carlton Queen capsized in 2023 due to instability.

It also had a long years of service before the renovations without any incident. Likely the boat was ill balanced after/during re-design and my understanding is that it happened very short after the boat was refurbished. So, instability was introduced later. To me, this is a clear cut case with obvious root cause.

In my view here the case is different. There are several LoBs active in the Red Sea to similar size of Sea Story. Storms are also part of the norm, especially in winter months. I do not see why they survived other storms but this particular one.

5:30 is roughly the time LoBs moor to a new diving spot for the early morning dive. It is usually most vulnerable moment, especially during storm as the maneuvering will involve getting the waves from the side. Other potential variant is running aground over the reef trying to moor during storm. Last variant is broken line or mooring and if the nightwatch is asleep, the boat will run aground or get a hit from the side.

 

[Dan]

I I've heard good things about VIP One from acquaintances. Vita Xplorer has a recent positive review on Undercurrent. Scuba Scene had good reviews . . . but that was before it burned to the waterline. Oh, and the first boat on liveaboard dot com's list is the Tillis. Go figure.

I was on Scuba Scene before it was burned down, Trip Report - BDE Trip Report, 21-28 December, 2019

Not by choice, it was Red Sea Aggressor 1 (RSA1) temporary replacement after it burned down a month before my trip.

About Tills trip, it’s on 30% sale, $728 for 8D/7N in December. What a deal! Bring your go bag!

 

[Adr1an]

Well the "competition" doesn't sail in the Red Sea, so I fail to understand really why they are real competition because selling your LOB is more than just the LOB, it's also the location.

It is a matter of pricing, when someone sees they can go on a LoB in Egypt for $1000/week they may choose this destination instead of some others (which may have been chosen if sailing in the same price range, so to speak).

 

[iliketopetsharks]

Who are the top notch liveaboards there that can be trusted? Anyone knows?

Some friends went on a trip aboard the MV Legends 2 and were full of praise. The pics look very nice fwiw.

 

[hawthorne]

Who are the top notch liveaboards there that can be trusted? Anyone knows?

We have good experience with Emperor Divers (link) in the Red sea. They have been in the business for ages, and we've been doing several trips over the years. A new LOB trip scheduled in March.

 

[ijdod]

This is the interesting part it's early days but the reference quote is as follows below:

"This happened at 5:30am in the morning: that boat has sunk and it was lying on its side, with all the boats around it," There’s absolutely no reason why no one would have gone in and tried to rescue the others".

Now you know where all the boats were I guess

Breakfast at Tiffanys

Sorry, missed that in the article. It's the first mention I've seen of that.

The earlier articles were quite vague on how the initial survivors were rescued, for instance, just mentioning that there was a wide area search for those still missing at that point. With previous incidents it's not uncommon to read nearby boats came to the rescue, picking up survivors, and so on. It also raises more questions. Those nearby ships must also have experienced the rogue wave.And again, with nearby boats, I'd have expected footage of the wreck by now. There's pieces of the puzzle still missing, I think.

 

[Pearlman]

Here’s an interesting survival story Belgian couple survive 35 hrs in air bubble

With video In an air pocket of barely a few cubic meters in size, Belgian Christophe (37) and Lucianna (30) survived the ship disaster in Egypt. They recorded this themselves in an unlikely video. In it they show the food they were able to gather. The waves crash against their small room and pieces of furniture float by.

 

[EdC]

About Tills trip, it’s on 30% sale, $728 for 8D/7N in December. What a deal! Bring your go bag!

Even though it still shows on Liveaboard.com this sailing has been cancelled after changing the itinerary a couple days ago to go north. Scuba-74 and myself were booked and received word today. That’s was the Dec 7th sailing, don’t know about later sailings.

 

[Dan]

Even though it still shows on Liveaboard.com this sailing has been cancelled after changing the itinerary a couple days ago to go north. Scuba-74 and myself were booked and received word today. That’s was the Dec 7th sailing, don’t know about later sailings.

Sorry to hear that.

So, they would refund you the money?

 

[Umuntu]

Even though it still shows on Liveaboard.com this sailing has been cancelled after changing the itinerary a couple days ago to go north. Scuba-74 and myself were booked and received word today. That’s was the Dec 7th sailing, don’t know about later sailings.

Maybe the Egyptian authorities are suspending the operator pending a review ?

It’s what would tend to happen elsewhere …