Unknown Sea Story lob sinks

[Dan]

The Red Sea is treacherous, the reefs are not very well charted

Not just in Red Sea. Our boat got stuck on uncharted pinnacle (2m deep) in between 90-16m deep zone in Komodo. Luckily we had some inflatable bumpers that we sandwiched between the reef & the boat to lift the boat off the reef. But the damage on the propellers (bent shaft & curly blades) were pretty bad and we had to tow the boat all the way to Jakarta harbor.

 

[scubaozy]

Night navigation is mostly done in open seas, like crossing from the coast area to Brothers or Daedalus. Otherwise it is mostly avoided. I can’t imagine anyone daring to sail at night close to a reef complex during a storm.
Boats follow the track plotted in the daylight crossings. Point to point navigation via gps at night is risky.
Wind is generally coming from north, so, the mooring business evolves around this assumption. If you need to travel east or westbound, you are bound to get hit by the waves abeam.
Captains normally pick a larger reef complex to overnight. In this case they did night diving after that they must have had dinner so I am pretty sure they were stationary until 2100. If it was for me to guess, they could well be still moored at the same place to leave when day is breaking. Imho, boat ending up at a shallow reef supports that theory.
If it was moving at night I first suspect it to having hit a reef, not waves.

 

[Dan]

I think it was four recovered, and five rescued, on the second (third?) day. Were two additional recoveries acknowledged?

I can see now that this app still needs further improvements. It contradicts itself. I posted in post #333 above, about the status of the captain given by ChatGPT, quoted below. It says 4 bodies were recovered, not 3.

“The captain of the Sea Story, which sank in the Red Sea, is reportedly among the missing individuals. Rescue efforts have confirmed that five people were rescued, and four bodies have been recovered, while others, including the captain, remain unaccounted for. Investigations into the cause of the accident and the status of all those aboard are ongoing .”

 

[Dan]

Usually most of the year the wind is northern, so most boats will moor sheltered in the southern side of reef. If the wind shifts position high waves pick up and the boat needs to shift mooring position. If all crew sleeping, it can take time to react.

If this is what happened to Sea Story, it sounds like an unsafe practice.

 

[A Bajo]

the yacht report has a followup video published Dec 6. It sounds like he actually spoke to survivors.
Dangerous Egyptian Dive Vessels

 

[Adr1an]

Hero is perfect, low rear deck, wide, VERY stable
Aphrodite one of the nicest
Nimar big wide stable
.... these are like part of the first league which I consider also stable. There is also Martina Explorer, new addition but too tall to my taste and never been on it. Just know the owners saw plans as it was for sale and was offered to me.

... and small league I was on but like whatever - C-heaven I was before renovation, is supposed to be nice and beautiful now. Stable.
Martina small stable and renovated but not open to general public. Mostly Czech diving clubs on it as it is owned by Czech diver.

P.S. Forgot the crews ... it's a hit and miss at times. Captain and chefs always perfect. The general crew... well.. always try to help but sometimes you have to watch your expensive camera equipment so it is not 'overhelped' - with good intentions but horrible outcome...

Great info here. Do you know what happened to Hero in 2024? Judging from the last schedule published Cruise Schedule - Hero Red Sea the boat appears to have been sold/renamed or perhaps undergoing repairs/renovation?

 

[scubadada]

the yacht report has a followup video published Dec 6. It sounds like he actually spoke to survivors.
Dangerous Egyptian Dive Vessels

Boat said to be in water 100 meters deep, interesting new information. I guess it was just barely floating.

 

[Dan]

Boat said to be in water 100 meters deep, interesting new information. I guess it was just barely floating.

And that debunks the speculation that the boat was moored on Sataya Reef, unless the reef is next to a wall that drops to 100m deep.

Michael Miles was able to open his port hole to get fresh air and stuck his clothes on to flag rescuer. So, it doesn’t sound like barely floating to me. It’s like floating, but upside down.

 

[Jai Bar]

If this is what happened to Sea Story, it sounds like an unsafe practice.

We will never know what actually happened, whether it was moored for the night or under way, was it captain's error or build quality. Probably a bit of everything.

And that debunks the speculation that the boat was moored on Sataya Reef, unless the reef is next to a wall that drops to 100m deep.

Lots and Many reefs in the Red Sea have walls that drop to depths of several hundreds of meters, some places like Ras Mohamed or Tiran probably more. Why does that surprise you? The Red Sea is very deep (part of the great rift valley) and the drop off walls of the dive sites into unfathomable deepest blue are amazing.

 

[Dan]

Why does that surprise you?

Because several posts mention it happened in the shallow area.

So there are mooring locations next to hundreds of meters depth wall in Sataya reef?