Unknown Sea Story lob sinks

[Dan]

Another interesting tidbits from that latest edition of Undercurrent article:

“Survivors from Sea Story reported she was hit by a large wave. Perhaps the captain had decided to turn back, and while turning, the vessel became broadside on (beam on) to the waves.”

 

[Dan]

For those who think it is crazy to take 44 meter long wooden boat without outdated navigation into 4m waves, look at Christopher Columbus. 3 wooden boats, the largest about 19 meters long, made it across the open Atlantic. Two of those ships not only made it back, but did the whole trip again - along with men who did it the first time.

We don't know what happened, and the little information we have seems contradictory. I've read:
1) The boat was hit by a large wave, then took 5 minutes to capsize
2) The boat was hit by a large wave, immediately thrown on its side, and slowly sank
3) The boat was hit by a large wave, and quickly sank sideways with a large hole in the hull

If the boat did run aground, that's more about the operator than the weather or construction of the boat, although of course all 3 matter.

The Sea Story article in 6 December 2024 issued of Undercurrent has the following comments on that wooden boat construction vs those in Christopher Columbus era:

“David Wright, another Red Sea liveaboard opera-
tor from the ‘80s and ‘90s, observed, “These [Egyptian] boats look great but are made of pine wood, lack correct calculated ballast, lack watertight bulkhead doors, and buoyancy calculations, [and have] stored oxygen onboard so there are serious risks.”

And before anyone suggests that 19th-century navies sailed the world with wooden boats, I’ll point out they were constructed with heavy prehistoric oak from forests that no longer exist!

We may never get all the facts. Sea Story’s operator, Dive Pro, in Hurghada, refused to answer inquiries from an Associated Press reporter and no longer responds to inquiries.”

 

[Dan]

@John Bantin also wrote in the above article:

“It’s All About Money

In the mid-90s, the Egyptians entered the diving
liveaboard market with a Pax-rate (what passengers are charged) half that was formerly demanded by incumbent foreign operators. Few, if any, of these liveaboards are SOLAS-compliant or built to any international standards. (SOLAS sets international safety standards for safety of life at sea.) They may meet local Egyptian regulations, but those are for vessels that operate close to shore. After a succession of disasters, this tragedy with many lost lives might finally propel the Egyptian government toward meaningful regulation and regular inspection of these liveaboards.

Sadly, the low costs are driven by divers looking for bargains. Some operators elsewhere in the world have often told Undercurrent that safety issues never seem to matter to most travel agents and divers booking low-cost dive trips. Low revenues in Egypt mean that back-to-back operations are essential to profitability; these vessels cannot afford cancellations and passenger refunds due to weather.”

 

[nippurmagnum]

I have enough with the Red Sea. It’s off my future dive destination for awhile until this Middle East crisis is over.

You want liveaboards in the Red Sea to improve safety AND for peace to break out in the Middle East? Yeah, it may be a while.

 

[Dan]

Notice I said cheap liveaboard IN EGYPT! I did not say don't go on any liveaboard in another country! Notice I also said dive on a safe liveaboard. You are reading more into my statements than I said. I am going back to Egypt in August 2025. I thought about going on a liveboard, looked here and promptly changed my mind. Please don't quote me and respond to things I did not say.
I was discussing the safety issues of liveaboards in Egypt in a thread about the unfortunate sinking of yet another Egyptian live aboard and the significant loss of life.

I am going on my first live aboard this January. I am going on the Velocean to Raja Ampat and am adding to my gear to address safety issues after reading here. The Velocean is certainly not cheap.
And as an extremely experienced diver, I'm sure you would be more prepared than me when something bad happened. I've only been diving for three years. At a bare minimum, you have 10 times the dives I have and perhaps 20 times!

My apologies for overlooking “IN EGYPT” & safe liveaboard, which is a good thinking . I just misunderstood your comment:

So that would be someone's safety plan to dive on a liveaboard in Egypt? Fly with a pony bottle?

which is kind of saying that my safety plan is by bringing only a pony bottle. In the previous posts I did mention about bringing “go bag” with water bottle, & dive light. In many posts on diving safety, I did mention more safety devices, for example as you see in this thread:

Post in thread 'PLBs Can Save Your Life'

Dec 15, 2020

What canister do you refer to please?

Upon searching for his post on the subject, I found this post:

Get a PLB. Buy a canister from Light Monkey. Put PLB in canister on your hip where you can light would be. Hose routing is exactly the same, and now you've got a big old OHSH*T button as well in case you get lost.

I don’t want to carry bulky stuff like that. I want to fit all of my safety signaling devices in my BCD pockets. Here’s mine:

• Dan

I have been to Raja Ampat 10 times. My 11th time is in January 2025 with White Manta. I haven’t been on Velocean, yet. It’s a new boat and I read some good reviews about the boat. So, it is good to know that you will be on it. When I see the boat next month in Raja Ampat, hopefully you will see White Manta then too, we can wave to each other and wish “Bon voyage” to each other.

 

[Dan]

You want liveaboards in the Red Sea to improve safety AND for peace to break out in the Middle East? Yeah, it may be a while.

True! It’ll be awhile and not a big deal to me, as I’ve been there & done that.

There are lots of other liveaboard destinations much better than the Red Sea, like (in my bias top 10 dive destinations, where 1 is the best diving destination in the world(;

1. Raja Ampat
2. Galapagos
3. Komodo
4. Ring of Fire (Alor-Banda Sea)
5. Malpelo
6. Socorro
7. Cocos
8. Palau
9. Maldives
10.Tubbataha

 

[Umuntu]

I emailed Liveaboard.com four days ago to say that they should consider dropping the Tillis and the Sea Pearl, the two remaining Dive Pro boats, from their list of boats.

Why single out just Dive Pro boats ?

Why not delist the Aggressor fleet and all the other operators who have had numerous incidents too ?

 

[Kendall Raine]

True! It’ll be awhile and not a big deal to me, as I’ve been there & done that.

There are lots of other liveaboard destinations much better than the Red Sea, like (in my bias top 10 dive destinations, where 1 is the best diving destination in the world(;

1. Raja Ampat
2. Galapagos
3. Komodo
4. Ring of Fire (Alor-Banda Sea)
5. Malpelo
6. Socorro
7. Cocos
8. Palau
9. Maldives
10.Tubbataha

Good list, Dan. Would love to see your ratings of LoBs, as well.

What I really hope to see (maybe @John Bantin or Ben Davison will undertake a UC survey or include a safety "star" category on the UC review form) is a broad list of LoB's showing safety features. Boat safety is a whole topic that largely goes ignored in dive magazine/diver reviews alike. That's probably because most divers don't worry about things that won't happen. Well....

When picking/researching LoBs I'll: 1) reach out to previous divers who've written reviews in UC and SB and ask questions about safety features/conscienousness (e.g. multiple points of lower deck egress, 24 hour watches, briefings), 2) review deck plans to see if exits are indicated, 3) reach out to the boat itself and ask same, 4) just look at photos to get a sense for whether the thing is a slab sided scow ready to fall over in a stiff breeze. The Conception fire hit close to home and made me realize that I'd been kind of sleep walking on this topic the previous 30 years-I was on Vision during a near miss in 1993. No more, even though I still prefer older wood LoBs over steel.

Once on board I'll check out exit routes, whether the 24 hour watches exist, exit hatches actually open, etc. If I'm up in the middle of the night I'll creep around to see who's up. Like you, I have a water proof go bag hanging on the cabin door.

All this amounts to "doing the best I can" with the information I can get. There's a lot one can learn (informational and attitudinal) from just talking to people if it's a priority.

 

[Dan]

Why not delist the Aggressor fleet and all the other operators who have had numerous incidents too ?

I have been on 5 different Aggressor boats (Cocos, Palau, Rock Islands, Maldives) their safety mindsets vary as some of them are just franchised (not owned by Aggressors). I thought Palau & Rock Islands Aggressors have pretty good safety mindsets.

Scuba Scene (Red Sea Aggressor 1 temporary replacement) safety mindsets were not bad as I was there right after RSA1 & Conception burned down. So their safety awareness were heightened after those accidents.

 

[iain/hsm]

Why did you post photos of guys?

Simply because they deserved far better than doing a job simply to feed the wife and kids back home than to die at sea serving your sorry ass for tips and trinkets while this whole episode is whitewashed over by those in uniforms and power who run this money go round holiday saga all as if nothing had ever happened. Hey but don't let a few dead locals get in the way of holiday plans. I'm simply putting a human face on costs.