An American teacher and two 16-year-old students
from the Cairo American College died when
the live-aboard dive boat Sea Queen II caught fire and
exploded off Sharm El Sheikh on February 18.
According to college spokesman Drew Alexander,
11 students were enrolled in a rescue diver course
being conducted on the 75-foot wood-hulled Sea
Queen II. The ship was moored 200 meters offshore,
and the students were all in their bunks, "exhausted
from a day of diving and swimming."
The instructor, American Dan Andrews, and two
Korean students had chosen berths in the ship's
lower deck. The other nine students and two instructors
slept on the open top deck.
The live-aboard, based in Sharm El Sheikh, was
in the Red Sea. Around midnight, trip sponsors and
instructors Penny O'Hara and Dr. Hussein Ramadan
were awakened by shouting and realized crew members
were fighting a fire on the lower deck. They
woke the students on the top deck and got them
into an inflatable boat. The crew tried to reach the
cabins where the Korean students and Andrews
were sleeping. Crew members emptied a fire extinguisher,
but thick smoke poured up the companionway
from the lower deck. Eventually, the inflatable
pulled away with nine students, the instructors, and
three crew members. The skipper jumped from the upper deck and another crew member jumped
from the bow. Both were picked up by the Zodiac,
which then circled the Sea Queen II several times.
Everyone was yelling for their three missing comrades.
But, says Alexander, "there was no response."
Flames soon reached the stern of the ship,
where scuba tanks were stored. Then, several blasts
rocked the ship. Firefighters arrived 40 minutes after
being notified and extinguished the fire about 6
a.m. As it was being towed to shore, the Sea Queen II sank in about 20 fsw. After the vessel cooled, divers
entered the boat and recovered the bodies of
Andrews and two students.
The initial report from the Sharm El Sheikh
police stated " .... when those interviewed were asked
about the cause of the fire, they stated it was most
probably due to an electrical short (in the A/C
room). There is no criminal suspicion." However, a
spokesman for the Sea Queen fleet told Undercurrent,
"We are waiting for the technical report now to
determine cause." The ship has been refloated but
appears to be a total loss. Investigations by the
Sharm Police, the Sinai District Attorney's office, the
various insurance companies, and the college itself
are underway.
Alexander also stated, "In a phone call before
the tragic night, one sponsor reported to a friend
that he had never been on a trip where the students
were more team focused and engaged than on this
one. It was all going so well and then tragedy struck."