The company had already lost a boat last February which caught fire.
Egyptian authorities announced Monday that 28 people had been rescued and search operations were still underway for 17 other passengers, after a tourist boat sank off Egypt's Red Sea coast.
The ship, which carried “31 tourists of different nationalities as well as 14 crew members”launched distress signals at 5:30 a.m. (03:30 GMT), according to a press release from the Red Sea governorate. There Egyptian Navy coordinates operations with reconnaissance aircraft. Bad weather conditions would complicate the search.
The Sea Story has left Port Ghalib near Marsa Alam Saturday for a 5-day diving trip, specifies the BBC. This very touristy region is particularly famous for diving thanks to its coral reefs very rich. According to the diving site Dive magazine, there are on board: four British divers, two Americans, two Belgians, a Chinese, four Egyptians, a Finn, an Irishman, two Norwegians, two Polish divers, two Slovaks and two Swiss divers. The return to Hurghada was planned for November 29.
The boat, built in 2022 according to the operator's website, measures 44 meters and has four decks. On board, 18 double cabins including 4 suites reserved for honeymoons, all of which can accommodate 36 passengers. According to Stern, this is the operator's second accident this year. The company Dive Pro Liveaboard previously experienced an accident in the Red Sea with the “Sea Legend”, also a diving yacht, which caught fire and sank in February.
