Thrilling-seeking UK software program professional and his fiancée recognized as two Brits nonetheless lacking after Sea Story yacht catastrophe in Egypt
Two British adventurers missing presumed drowned in a yacht disaster in the Red Sea are an engaged couple, it emerged last night.
Jenny Cawson, 36, and Tarig Sinada, 49, who were enjoying a reef safari holiday off Egypt, have both worked as scuba diving instructors.
But little could have prepared them for the moment on Monday morning when their yacht was capsized and rapidly sunk by a giant wave.
There were 31 tourists and 13 Egyptian crew aboard the 144ft, four-deck Sea Story. Four bodies have been found in the boat on the bottom of the Red Sea, with seven still unaccounted for.
Twenty-eight of the survivors – including British tourists Colin Sharratt, 65, and partner Sally Jones, 58 – were picked up close to the scene on Monday, while five were later miraculously found in a tiny air pocket in a cabin.
Jenny Cawson and Tarig Sinada have been missing since the tourist dive boat capsized
The Sea Story is a 144ft pleasure craft built in 2022, which can carry up to 36 passengers
Last night one of them told the Daily Mail how, with only their mouths and noses out of the water, they desperately prayed for rescue before they were saved after 30 hours.
And last night the identities of the two missing Britons were revealed. Miss Cawson and Mr Sinada, an IT consultant and astrophysics graduate of Imperial College, have lived together for some years in Ashburton, near Newton Abbot, Devon.
As well as mountain climbing and snowboarding, they both love diving, with Mr Sinada – who works for Tata Consultancy Services – having worked as a scuba instructor in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, with Miss Cawson sometimes working alongside him.
An official source said they were among those missing, presumed drowned.
The Sea Story set off on Sunday for a six-day voyage despite a warning of bad weather, and a ban on marine activities. It was hit by a large wave before dawn on Monday. The yacht is said to have sunk, plummeting to the bottom of the Red Sea, 40 feet down, in as little as five minutes. When Egyptian frogmen dived to the boat on Tuesday, they found four bodies and five survivors.
A spokesman for Mr Sidana’s employers said: ‘We hope for his safe return, along with all other passengers.’ Miss Cawson’s relatives were too upset to comment. One of those miraculously saved from the tragedy – a scuba instructor working on board, Youssef Al-Faramawy, 23 – told the Mail last night of his ordeal.
He said when the boat set off from near Marsa Alam at 6am Sunday, the weather was fine. But after a diving stop that afternoon, strong winds brought a halt to sea activity. Anchored out at sea overnight, however, a party was staged until 1am.
Rescuers and medics are seen on a pontoon after the boat capsized early on November 25
Rescuers work near the site where a boat sank in the Red Sea, in Marsa Alam, on November 25
Mr Al-Faramawy said: ‘At 5am on Monday strong winds woke many passengers, and they rushed out to the deck.
‘I heard screaming – then the boat capsized on its right side, and we couldn’t open the door because of the water pressure.
‘In maybe five minutes, it sank, and I was shocked when water started filling the cabin. Just a small air pocket remained, about eight inches high.
‘I was on the verge of falling into a coma, but tried to hold on. We couldn’t scream because we had no strength left. By then, we had surrendered.
‘We all kept praying to God. Then we heard something from outside… and screamed at the top of our lungs and tried to knock on the door. Minutes passed before a man with a crowbar was trying to open it – the water pressure meant we had to work together to force it.
‘Then my own uncle Khattab was one of the divers who pulled us out and saved us.’