The Red Sea Sea Story Liveaboard Disaster: Undercurrent 01/2025

Subscriber Content Preview
Only active subscribers can view the whole article here

In early December, we sent you, our subscribers, an advance story on the capsizing of the liveaboard Sea Story; 11 people are either dead or missing. Since then, more of the story has unfolded, so here is the fully updated story, a serious caution about Egyptian wooden- hulled liveaboards.

* * * *

Sea Story Liveaboard - Red Sea In the early hours of Monday, November 25, the Red Sea liveaboard MY Sea Story crew issued a brief distress call before the vessel capsized in heavy seas. An older vessel, rebuilt and renamed in 2022, with added decks, the 144-foot-long Egyptian liveaboard had 18 twin cabins. It carried 30 passengers and 14-16 crew including dive guides (crew numbers provided vary) when it left the Port Ghalib marina near Marsa Alam the day before. It was due to disembark its divers in Hurghada nearly a week later.

The Egyptian Navy arrived on site about eight hours after they received the distress call, and, together with another passing dive boat, recovered 28 people from the water in the Wadi el-Gemal area. All were taken to a resort at Marsa Alam for medical care. The Egyptian navy warship El Fateh, aided by aircraft, continued searching for survivors.

Some survivors said the vessel capsized and went under in a few minutes; others said the wreckage was floating at the surface, inverted at an angle. Rescue divers reported hearing knocking sounds coming from the wreckage, meaning people were still trapped inside after the initial rescue. Five additional survivors were miraculously rescued by divers who found them breathing from an eight-inch air pocket in a cabin inside the partly submerged hull, more than 30 hours later.

From the beginning, there were knocking sounds coming from the wreckage. No one has said why the Navy did not let the would-be rescuers into the upturned vessel until the following day....

"Five additional survivors were miraculously rescued by divers who found them breathing from an eight-inch air pocket in a cabin inside the partly submerged hull, more than 30 hours later."

Subscribers: Read the full article here

;