Passenger ship lost in Red Sea
Lifeboats, bodies reported near where ship last seen

Friday, February 3, 2006; Posted: 6:33 a.m. EST (11:33 GMT)

CAIRO, Egypt (CNN) -- An aging Egyptian passenger ship carrying more than 1,400 people has disappeared in the Red Sea off the Saudi coast, officials say.

The ship, the Al Salam Boccaccio 98, left Dubah, western Saudi Arabia, en route to Egypt's southern port of Safaga, a spokesman for the El Islam Maritime Transport Co. told CNN.

State-run Nile Television, quoting the Red Sea governor, said the ship was carrying 1,415 people -- 1,310 of them Egyptians.

"Our understanding now is that there are survivors," said Egyptian Minister of Transport Mohamed Loutfy Mansour, who said the reports came from helicopter pilots.

"The Coast Guard is doing everything in its power to try to rescue the people." Four frigates were expected to arrive at the site soon, he added. (Map of the area)

The Egyptian government has called their Saudi counterparts in the port of Jedda to seek help, he said.

Adel Shoukri told CNN from the company's headquarters in Cairo the ship disappeared at midnight (5 p.m. Thursday ET) from radar screens.

The Egyptian government had initiated a search for the 25-year-old liner, which can carry 1,487 passengers, he added.

Helicopters have spotted bodies floating on the sea and one lifeboat carrying three people in the vicinity of where the ship was last seen on the radar screens, maritime officials told The Associated Press.

The ship was due to have arrived at Safaga at 3 a.m. local time, but did not, the officials added.

CNN's Ben Wedeman said most of those on board would be working-class Egyptians returning to Egypt after taking part in the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

He said that the weather was not too bad -- though fairly windy with temperatures cooler than the average for the rest of the year. Wederman said that area of the Red Sea sees a lot of shipping traffic as it is near the Suez Canal.

David Osler, of Lloyd's List, told CNN while it was too early to speculate on the cause of the ship's disappearance, the vessel was a roll-on roll-off ferry of design known to suffer stability problems.

"Once a small amount of water gets on board it can set up an uncontrollable rocking that causes rapid capsize," he said.

He said safety standards in the developed world had improved markedly in the after the Pride of Free Enterprise sank at Zeebruge, Belgium, in 1987, killing 193 passengers.

The ship, which was built in 1970, was involved in a collision in 1999, he said.

"This vessel was pensioned off from Italy. It may have been overloaded," he said.

The ship is owned by the Egyptian firm El-Salaam Maritime Transport Co. Some of the passengers are believed to be pilgrims returning from the annual hajj to Mecca, which ended last month.

Being grossly overloaded hasn't helped things.

Watching BBC World right now. There are some reports that there were heavy winds in the area, and if there was much heavy wave action, it might have loosened the front visor and allowed water in. Once that happens, it is not a question of if but when and how quickly it would sink. Being grossly overloaded hasn't helped things.

Edi

The BBC site says it wasn't overloaded, but that cargo may have started moving.

Red Sea disaster: Egypt rejects Israeli aid offer


The Israeli Navy offered its assistance to Egypt in rescuing survivors from the ship disaster in the Red Sea.

Egypt thanked Israel for the offer but said it can handle the rescue operation using its own Navy and Air Force Notably, the Israeli Navy and the port in the southern town of Eilat received no calls for assistance before the ship sunk. (Seya Egozy)

Idiots.

I read a detailed account in the Atlantic about the sinking of the Estonia. It chills the blood. The lucky, the quick, and the ruthless survived. If your spouse or parent had problems getting up the stairs as the boat listed at an increasingly difficult to climb angle and you stopped to help them, you died too. Some of the survivors left their loved ones behind who urged them to leave and save themselves. It was just absolutely terrible.

Words can't describe the arrogance. But of course, it's not the people who make the decision that will suffer, it is the people in the water.

Israel should just send their ships anyway.

Idiots.

Fourteen bodies and 100 survivors have been pulled from the water, as rescue boats battled poor weather to scour the area before darkness fell.

The al-Salam Boccaccio '98 sank about 80km (50 miles) off Egypt during an overnight trip from Duba, Saudi Arabia.

The cause of the disaster is not known, but there were high winds when the 35-year-old vessel set sail.

The Egyptian transport minister said there had been no concerns about the seaworthiness of the ship.

But President Hosni Mubarak has ordered an immediate inquiry into the cause and circumstances of the sinking.

Most of the passengers were Egyptians working in Saudi Arabia, but some were said to be pilgrims returning from Mecca.

'Dozens of bodies'

The ship vanished after setting sail for Safaga on Thursday evening, but no distress signal was said to have been received by Egyptian officials.



Warships and helicopters have been searching the area, which a spokesman for the Egyptian embassy in London described as "vast".

"Dozens of bodies" had been recovered and several life boats had been spotted, Ayman al-Kaffas told the BBC.

A British warship sent to the area has been recalled, but no reason has been given.

The Egyptian ship was carrying 1,310 passengers and 96 Egyptian crew, Jan Maher, a spokesman for the ship's Egyptian company, el-Salam Maritime Transport, told the BBC.

There were about 100 people from other countries, including Saudis and Sudanese, Capt Maher said.

In Safaga, many anxious families have been waiting for hours for news of their loved ones.

Why?

A presidential spokesman said "the speed at which the ship sank and the fact there were not enough life rafts on board confirm that there was a [safety] problem".

RECENT SHIPPING DISASTERS
2002: Joola, Senegal, more than 1,800
2001: Java, Indonesia, more than 500
1996: Bukoba, Tanzania, more than 500
1994: Estonia, Baltic Sea, 852
1991: Salam Express, Egypt, 464
1987: Dona Paz, Philippines, more than 4,300

"But we cannot anticipate on the results of the investigation," Suleiman Awad told public television.

The general manager of the Saudi branch of maritime insurance company Lloyds said earlier the ship had met all safety requirements.

"The vessel was well equipped with all lifeboats and all her certificates were valid, " Nizam Siddiqui said.

AL-SALAM 98
Capacity: 1,487
Built: Italy 1970
Length: 118m (388ft)
Gross tonnage: 11,779t
Owner: El-Salam Maritime

He ruled out the possibility of a collision with another ship, saying the other vessel would have reported the incident.

Shipping expert Paul Beaver told the BBC that overloading should not have been a problem.

There was a possibility one or more of the vehicles the ship was transporting could have moved, particularly in bad weather, he said.

A sister ship of the al-Salam '98 sank in the Red Sea in October after a collision. Two people were killed and 40 injured.

1987: Dona Paz, Philippines, more than 4,300

More than 4,300 people died in a collision between the ferry Dona Paz and an oil tanker in Philippine waters just before Christmas in 1987.

I'm not sure the ship had a front visor...

Right now though, thats just speculation. If there was a problem with the bow doors/visor and water entered the car deck, that alone could finish her - vehicles would indeed start to shift around, but by that point it would be far too late. The BBC site says there was no report of an SOS, so this was probably terribly quick

Sweet Jeebus!!! How did that happen? Thats more then the Titanic!

Is anyone else thinking that ships over a certain size simply should not have Bow Doors? Ok, I'm sure they are needed for smaller ships moving cars and fright... But if your a Cruise ship and your holding 1000+ Human lives, I would NOT Like a ship with a front that, if something happend, would suddenly open and cause the ship to sink in seconds.

I always thought ferries tended to be poorly maintained deathtraps by nature anyway. Even when we get on the dinky little passenger (no car) ferry to go to Toronto's Centre Island park, the first thing I do when I get onboard is take note of where the lifejackets are (luckily, they're everywhere).