Egyptian officials have confirmed that dozens of tourists are missing following a boat sinking – including some Brits.
The boat was carrying 31 tourists, including four British and two American nationals, as well as 14 Egyptian crew members. At around 5.30am this morning, a member of crew raised the alarm, but the boat disappeared from the sea radar. Now, it is known that 28 people have been rescued as search operations continued for the 17 others still missing.
According to the governor of Egypt’s Red Sea province, 45 people were initially reported missing following the vessel going under. The cause of the sink is not confirmed, but locals confirmed a helicopter and the Egyptian Navy were used during the search for survivors.
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(Image: Marine Traffic)
The boat, named Sea Story, departed from the port of Ghalib in Marsa Alam yesterday, with an expected arrival at Hurghada Marina on Friday. It was not an unusual trip as the journey is often well travelled.
Travellers went out on a multi-day diving trip in the Red Sea, one of the most popular diving destinations. So far, it’s understood that the captain was taking the divers around the coast when the vessel experienced an as yet unknown issue.
Egypt’s Navy were also recruited to the situation as the search party has been out all morning. Not only that, a helicopter is patrolling the skies above the ocean to see if they can catch any tourists in need. Amr Hanafy, governor of the Red Sea region, said that several of the tourists had already been rescued but did not provide an updated toll on the number of passengers still missing.
(Image: Getty Images)
The ship was built in 2022, is 144ft long and can carry up to 32 passengers. Following the distress call, the boat completely fell off the radar and no communication has been made since.
It is missing and believed to have sunk in the Sha’ab Sataya area. Ship tracking website Marine Traffic reported that the last location shared by the boat was off Hurghada.
With 18 twin cabins, the vessel takes tourists on diving trips to explore reefs and wrecks in the Red Sea.
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