You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Africa Horn
Egyptian Passenger Ship Carrying 1,300 People Sinks
2006-02-03
An Egyptian passenger ship carrying around 1,300 people, mostly Egyptians, sank in the Red Sea overnight, and rescue ships arriving at the scene Friday had pulled 15 bodies and 12 survivors out of the water so far, officials said. The 35-year-old ship, "Salaam 98," went down 40 miles off the Egyptian port of Hurghada, the head of the Egyptian Maritime Authority, Mahfouz Taha Marzouk, told The Associated Press. The cause was not immediately known, but there were high winds and a sandstorm overnight on Saudi Arabia's west coast, from which the ship departed Thursday evening.
Reports are passengers were returning from the Haj. No reports of terrorism yet. The photo shows an extremely top heavy ship that could easily have capsized in a storm.
Posted by:ed

#20  I'm assuming most were trapped in the hull. I was wondering if those few who grabbed onto flotsam could survive the night.
Posted by: ed   2006-02-03 23:05  

#19  long one can survive in the Red Sea during wintertime?

Unfortunately, ed, probably just long enough to be eaten by 3dc's sharks. Even if the passenger's could swim, which I b'lieve in those parts is the hobby of rich men's children (there are lots of crocodiles in the Nile, I understand).
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-02-03 22:59  

#18  By the passenger manifest, 324 have been rescued and 1100 are missing or dead. Any folks here know long one can survive in the Red Sea during wintertime?
Posted by: ed   2006-02-03 22:49  

#17  Hopefully, it will take the area's mind off cartoons for a moment. Vent some justified rage at the right people.. for the right reasons.

Never happen. Allah meant for all those people to die on that ferry; there's absolutely nothing anyone could have done about it. Oh, sure, one of kaffirs would point to it being overloaded, to the modifications turning into a top-heavy disaster in waiting, and heck, I bet there's even solid evidence of government officials raking in cash to overlook the whole thing -- but that's just crazy talk, because Allah meant it to happen, and there's nothing that could have been done to stop it.

The cartoons, though, they're the act of men, and for it, those men must die.

*spit*

Like Tim Blair said, for there to be a clash of civilizations, there have to be two civilizations. From where I'm sitting, there's one civilization and a great big pack of barbarians. The barbarians are doing their damnedest to provoke us. I don't think they quite comprehend what that would mean.
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2006-02-03 22:28  

#16  Hopefully, it will take the area's mind off cartoons for a moment. Vent some justified rage at the right people.. for the right reasons.
Posted by: Hupomoger Clans9827   2006-02-03 21:16  

#15  That water is crawling with sharks and rays...

I remember as a kid going up toward the suez the men would pretend to shoot skeet off the ship and shoot sharks instead.

Posted by: 3dc   2006-02-03 21:06  

#14  Inshallah.
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2006-02-03 15:37  

#13  If she flipped over fast enough, the lifeboats on the side she rolled to would have been crushed by the ship. The ones on the other side might've floated free, but unless you were in the right place on one of the upper decks, you wouldn't have a chance to get to one.
Posted by: Mike   2006-02-03 15:33  

#12  That's terrible, ed.

I know they had some lifeboats - some people were picked up from them. Wonder if they didn't have enough lifeboats/life preservers, or if the ship just turned over too quick.

My first thought when I saw a picture of the ship this morning was how top-heavy it looked.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2006-02-03 14:48  

#11  This is looking extremely bad. Only 180 known survivors.
Posted by: ed   2006-02-03 13:53  

#10  I looked at the pictures. Somebody took a conventional little passenger RO-RO and put a four-story office block on top of it. I'm no naval architect, but she looks like she'd roll over on you if you looked at her crosseyed. Ever heard of "metacentric height," boys?
Posted by: Mike   2006-02-03 13:28  

#9  Bubblehead has pictures showing the original versus current ship. Lotsa decks added.
Posted by: 6   2006-02-03 12:50  

#8  Top-heavy doesn't begin to describe it. I don't think the ships were designed to carry that number. A sister ship carrying pilgrims collided with a cargo ship back in October and sank. If I recall correctly, there were way more than 1300 people on board, most of them 'deck passengers'.
Posted by: Pappy   2006-02-03 11:06  

#7  Naturally, Egypt has declined the Israeli Navy's offer of assistance.
Posted by: Seafarious   2006-02-03 10:59  

#6  3. October 2005: Allan causes earthquake that killed 80,000.

I should point out that Allan caused that earthquake in Pakistan, where many, many, many Mohammedans live.
Posted by: The Angry Fliegerabwehrkanonen   2006-02-03 10:55  

#5  ALLAN IS ANGRY!!!!!!

Holy Moly! Allan is been on a rampage lately.

1. December 2003: Allan causes giant earthquake in Iran; kills about 20,000.

2. December 26, 2004: Allan causes Tsunami that wipes out 260,000 people, most of them Allan-praying Mohammedans.

3. October 2005: Allan causes earthquake that killed 80,000.

4. Fall-Winter Period 2005-2006: Allan has fun with His annual Hajj stampede and building collapse. This year's disasters kills a combined 600-plus.

5. And now this: Allan causes storm and drowns hundreds of Mohammedans. Wow!
Posted by: The Angry Fliegerabwehrkanonen   2006-02-03 10:54  

#4  Probably not many passengers from the Haj - wrong port. Most pilgrims leave via Jiddah. Probably mostly Egyptian workers heading home to visit.
Posted by: Chuns Angeaque5399   2006-02-03 10:18  

#3  devil fish

rocks

stampede
Posted by: RD   2006-02-03 10:02  

#2  It was the Israeli Navy.
Posted by: Hupoluling Snilet4192   2006-02-03 09:58  

#1  Seething and BB (Blaming Bush) in 4, 3, 2... We had to do something, since RB was down for a few days! Who knows, maybe it was the Jooooooos or maybe Johnny Jihadi(tm) got some new toys to play with at the hajj and played with them a little too soon.
Posted by: Halliburton, Hajj Ship Sinking Division   2006-02-03 09:49  

00:00