This morning in Egypt ...

[Jai Bar]

Really! I have to wonder why anyone goes there. I guess it's low costs and great diving, but every visitor needs to check every boat's safety as you do...

Do you test the smoke detectors to see if they have working b

Don't know about the costs elsewhere (I have been diving mostly Maldives and Red Sea during the last decade), but Egpyt has not only "great" diving- some sites are superb, world class. I love the Red Sea.

Probably no one will ever abort a Safari because upon arriving, perhaps after flying across the glove, he finds no smoke detectors or emergency exit, right? But at least raising concern to the boat owners and/or rep/agency, maybe it helps increase awareness that divers do care for minimal safety. After all, having installed smoke detectors, some extinguishers in the corridor and making sure escape hatch is not obstructed- it is peanuts for the boat owners.

 

[Joneill]

In my last liveaboard a week ago I was in the front cabin, and from curiosity I tried emergency exit hatch- it was firmly stuck wouldn't budge at all. Later I went to the bow and discovered why- several spare anchors and thick ropes were blocking it. Not really helpful in case of emergency, isn't it?

I understand that also on the fire on Aggressor I (Elphinstone, 1 dead tourist) the hatch was blocked..

Did you have them immediately clear that crap so you had a working escape hatch? It’s criminal that they had not checked the emergency egress routes before taking on passengers.

What LOB was this so we can avoid this death trap?

 

[Jai Bar]

Harrowing Tales from the Red Sea Aggressor I Fire: Undercurrent 01/2020

Many boats suffer from similar symptoms, hence it is important to raise awareness, not ban operators- especially if they take corrective actions and aim for higher safety standards.

Fatal fires/smoke are probably as old as the discovery of fire by our ancestors living in caves, fire on boats as old as their invention. There will be fires on interstellar spaceships going to far far away stars... ;-)

Isn't It all about risk management and mitigation?

 

[John Bantin]

First Video received at 06.22 hrs BST.​

 

[rongoodman]

on the red sea liveaboards i've been on normally on the lower cabin deck the alternate route is out through the forward cabin at the end of the corridor - at the head of the bed in that cabin there's a hatch in the panellling which gives direct access out and up onto the bow deck.

The story was that on the Red Sea Aggressor boat that caught fire the guests exiting through the forward hatch had to dislodge sleeping crew members from on top of it. They would have all died otherwise though, since the stairs up to the salon led directly into the fire. One guest did die. I don't think it was ever determined if she couldn't get out or went back for something. The only reason they got any warning at all was because a guest was awake and smelled the smoke.

 

[scubadada]

WTF is the problem with Red Sea Liveaboards? I hope these 3 divers are found, but what the hell is wrong over there??? Way too many liveaboard fires: Red Sea Aggressor 1, Scuba Scene and now this?

I was doing some reading today. The Red Sea has a huge number of registered liveaboards. I tried to read about liveaboard accidents but the information is difficult to find. I found 9 Red Sea accidents, fire, ran aground, capsized. I was hoping to find a database on liveaboard accidents around the world, but found nothing.

 

[BlueTrin]

Between this and the shark attack, it’s a bit depressing news … was in Egypt only weeks ago …

 

[DandyDon]

Do many of those die quietly when the batteries go down? Some start squawking when the battery is low.

Richard.

I guess that they all give Low-Battery warnings* to anyone nearby long enough to hear them, but those are not constant, and then there is always a chance of Good-Battery malfunctions. The only way to know if it's working is to test it. I remind others to test monthly at home even tho the directions say to test weekly because hardly anyone would bother weekly.

* Several decades ago I was disturbed by rare beeps during the pre-dawn hours and I kept wondering where those were coming from until an overnight guest asked me why I didn't heed that warning!

 

[Jai Bar]

WTF is the problem with Red Sea Liveaboards? I hope these 3 divers are found, but what the hell is wrong over there??? Way too many liveaboard fires: Red Sea Aggressor 1, Scuba Scene and now this?

You can add to the list the capsizing and sinking of the MV Carlton Queen at Shaab Abu Nuhas (of all places... ) a feeks ago.

Red Sea liveaboard sinks at Abu Nuhas

A recently built 42m liveaboard, the Carlton Queen , has capsized and sunk near Sha'ab Abu Nuhas in the northern Egyptian Red Sea.

divernet.com

 

[RedSeaDiver2]

There does seem to have been a number of incidents involving Red Sea liveaboards during recent months, no common theme amongst them. As someone said though there is a lot of liveaboards in the Red Sea - 175 are officially registered with the CDWS, probably another 50 unofficial ones.