Red Sea sinking: Survivors found after 30 hours trapped in 20cm air pockets

Five people have been found alive after surviving in “20cm air pockets” for over 30 hours, after the Sea Story yacht sank in Egypt’s Red Sea earlier this week. The hunt for seven more people who went missing in the tragedy continues.

Witnesses have spoken about the horrifying moments the yacht started to sink on Monday morning (25 November 2024) during rough weather near the coral reef of Shaab Satayah, south of the coastal town of Marsa Alam.

The survivors, who clung to life by breathing from small air pockets in their flooded cabins, endured total darkness and cold water temperatures until rescuers reached them.

The Sea Story, a liveaboard vessel, sank at 5:30am and the wooden boat reportedly sank within minutes, leaving passengers and crew with little time to react.

Among the survivors was 23-year-old diving instructor Youssef al-Faramawy, who had been aboard to assist with the trip. His father, Hussam al-Faramawy, described the ordeal to The Times, saying, “Youssef rushed to help a man and a woman who were trapped in a cabin. About 20cm inside the cabin were still not flooded, which helped them breathe and stay alive until rescue teams arrived.” Al-Faramawy was later rescued by his uncle, Khattab, a professional diver who had joined the search effort.

The rescue operation was fraught with difficulties as divers navigated the dark, submerged wreckage of the yacht, located 12 metres below the surface. Khattab al-Faramawy described the challenges to the BBC: “It was quite a complicated mission. We were using torches to find our way into the darkness.” Despite the risks, he was able to locate his nephew alive in one of the flooded cabins, a moment he described as “miraculous.”

One of the rescued passengers, a Belgian tourist, described his relief upon being saved. Quoted in The Sun, he said, “It was very nice to be back, very nice. The reception on [the] boat with a warm shower, the dinner after, and all the care they took because we were shaking with [the] cold.”

Altogether, 33 people have been rescued from the capsized vessel, but the tragedy has claimed at least four lives, and seven others remain missing, including two Britons. Search efforts are ongoing, involving Egyptian naval forces, helicopters, and local divers.

Questions remain about how the vessel was permitted to sail despite warnings of bad weather. The Egyptian Meteorological Authority had forecast waves as high as 10 to 13 feet in the Red Sea before the yacht departed from Port Ghalib on Sunday. Survivors described the wave that struck the vessel as “abnormally large,” but some experts have questioned whether wave height alone could have caused the boat to capsize so quickly.

Oceanographer Simon Boxall told Sky News, “The wind conditions for the region around Marsa Alam weren’t that strong and wouldn’t create these alleged 3- to 4-metre waves.”

A UK Foreign Office spokesperson said, “We are providing consular support to a number of British nationals and their families following an incident in Egypt and are in contact with the local authorities.” Ireland, Poland, and Finland also confirmed they are providing consular support to their citizens.

The Red Sea is a major hub for Egypt’s tourism industry, renowned for its coral reefs and diving spots. However, this is not the first maritime accident in the region this year. Earlier this month, 30 people were rescued from a sinking dive boat near the Daedalus Reef, and in June, two dozen French tourists were safely evacuated from another sinking vessel.

In 2023, the Carlton Queen yacht, a 42-metre dive boat, sank after rolling onto its side off the coast of Egyptian city Hurghada. The same year, three British people were confirmed dead after a fire engulfed their dive boat Hurricane off the coast of Marsa Alam.

The investigation into the Sea Story’s sinking is ongoing.