1450 Passenger Ship Sinks in Red Sea

Lifeboats, bodies reported near where ship last seen
Friday, February 3, 2006; 6.30 am
Source: CNN, AP, eTN Egypt

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.

Lifeboats, bodies reported near where ship last seen.

The ship left Dubah, western Saudi Arabia, en route to Egypt's southern port of Safaga

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.

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.