Unknown Sea Story lob sinks

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Secondly, if the boat were moored, as tall & floaty (“pine wood” material as @John Bantin mentioned in his article), the boat would be aligned with the current & the bow would be facing the waves head on, rather than side way (beam on as some articles put it) and it would be in much better position to ride on the waves, don’t you think?
What makes you assume the waves would be coming from the same direction as the current (or vice versa)?
 
Even the best GPS is worthless if the reefs are not mapped accurately - and they aren't.

The Red Sea in this area is littered with shipwrecks of all sizes.
Nonsense. A 2 minute dig revealed easily accessible, accurate recreational marine charts for most of the Egyptian coast (for a fee). For example, here's a free snippet of a popular reef cluster near Safaga:
Screenshot 2024-12-07 220807.jpg

Another 30 seconds on Google Maps, and I have the GPS coordinates of Panorama Reef: 26.748448, 34.081624 where 6 dive boats were moored in the lee of the reef when this photo was taken.

Screenshot 2024-12-07 221151.jpg


Here is the GPS location of Satay Reef, where Sea Story supposedly sank:

Screenshot 2024-12-07 221519.jpg


Any capable GIS enthusiast could produce an accurate GPS map of the entire BDE reef itinerary in less than a week. Or buy the maps for upload into a marine chart plotter in less than an hour.

Given the popularity and commercial value of diving operations in this region, there is simply no excuse for a boat making way in the Red Sea, in any weather condition to hit a reef, unless....

What is a compromised GPS system?
1) A fully operational satellite-based GPS system operated by a donkey, or....
2) Fully operational GPS hardware that has been jammed by local authorities/ bad actors, or...
3) Partially operational GPS hardware: broken, obsolete, unconnected hardware, or....
4) Phantom GPS hardware, ie. GPS receiver antenna top side, missing display on bridge, or....
5) BS mobile-phone based GPS systems.
 
Also, in a sea with depths
Here's a map with depths and indication where the drop off is.
The sea did not stay that rough the whole time, and yes, it is confirmed that the capsized boat stayed floating that long. That's why the rescues divers were able to save people.
That's Ras Samadai, not Sataya. There's two sites regularly called Dolphin House. Sataya is further South. Same principle applies, though.
 
I wouldn't trust Google Maps to get me out of a wet paper bag.

While Google Maps can give an overview of an area, some of it is inaccurate and does not match proper charts supplied by companies like Garmin.
 
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?
IDK I was on her in summer 2023 and since then she got refitted and seems like 4 cabins were added on main deck which would be total of eight there. Coupled with 6 below deck and 2 suites in upper deck it has now capacity of 32. It is amazing boat and I can imagine it could be sold out to dive operators. They don't deal with public directly.
 
What makes you assume the waves would be coming from the same direction as the current (or vice versa)?
If the current & wind are not in alignment, then you’ll be in deep doo doo. The local experts here tell us that they moor their boats in several points anyway. So you’ll be in a deeper doo doo.
 
Firstly, the boat didn’t seem to be moored, according to Michael Miles, the 70yo survivor. He said:
“that captain of the boat was quite young and didn’t seem very experienced. He was not taking the waves in the correct way and before especially not when it got to the big waves. I believe it was one of the biggest reasons for the boat to sink. If a boat isn’t positioned correctly in the waves it is not good.”

Unfortunately the young captain was amongst the 7 missing people. So, he wouldn’t be able to testify whether the boat was moored or cruising through the night.
I wouldn't put much faith on that article, it is based on account and interpretation of survivor's relative and to judge the captain how he went through the night and what he was supposed to do is outright laughable. The Belgian survivors account contradicts this a bit. One thing is certain - if the boat was on an open water and would it capsized that fast and in the dark and in 10 foot waves there wouldn't be initial 28 survivors. I went through some rough crossing from Daedalus 2 years ago and I can tell you it is not walk in the park and on such rough see whoever would jump to the water they would get quickly dispersed and perhaps overwhelmed by the waves.

Secondly, if the boat were moored, as tall & floaty (“pine wood” material as @John Bantin mentioned in his article), the boat would be aligned with the current & the bow would be facing the waves head on, rather than side way (beam on as some articles put it) and it would be in much better position to ride on the waves, don’t you think?
Were you in Red Sea ever? The way they moore boats is to cover behind the reef from waves from whichever direction the wind blows. Fortunately it is quite simple as it's either northerly or southerly and never from the mainland so they tie the boat to the rear at appropriate spot so that bow and stern are tied. So pretty much the wind could blow to the side of the boat at an angle. Sometimes the wind changes the direction and then in the middle of the night they reposition. But that night it was strong northerly uniform - I went to windy.com that morning after the news broke and it shown that wind whole night.

As for the 100m depth - the boat could have capsized and tear from the reef and with wind it could end up off the reef where there are these 100m depths quickly as other posts explained.
 
I wouldn't trust Google Maps to get me out of a wet paper bag.

While Google Maps can give an overview of an area, some of it is inaccurate and does not match proper charts supplied by companies like Garmin.

I can verify this from many personal experiences while trying to map reefs and rock pilings along the shore where I dive in Libya. It's an "overview" tool only and not an accurate navigation tool where people's safety depends on it.
 
I can verify this from MANY personal experiences trying to map reefs/rock pilings along shore where I dive in Libya. "Overview" only, not an accurate navigation tool where people's safety depends on it.

I agree.

You need nautical charts for navigation at sea. Unfortunately many of the nautical charts in shallow coastal waters around the world (which are not major commercial shipping routes) are still based on old manual “plumb line” surveys by the British Admiralty from the 19th century (1800s), and some haven’t had many updates since then. Modern 3D computer surveys using bathymetry are expensive to do, and are usually available for areas of commercial interest such as commercial shipping and oil exploration.
 
Were you in Red Sea ever? The way they moore boats is to cover behind the reef from waves from whichever direction the wind blows. Fortunately it is quite simple as it's either northerly or southerly and never from the mainland so they tie the boat to the rear at appropriate spot so that bow and stern are tied. So pretty much the wind could blow to the side of the boat at an angle. Sometimes the wind changes the direction and then in the middle of the night they reposition. But that night it was strong northerly uniform - I went to windy.com that morning after the news broke and it shown that wind whole night.

Here an example (Scuba Scene, I think it is also on the list of boats that caught fire):


1733676280295.png
 
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