Egypt's presidential spokesman said Tuesday the owners of the Red Sea ferry that sank last week, drowning about 1,000 people, did not inform the government of the disaster for nearly six hours.

Suleiman Awad emerged from a Cabinet session chaired by President Hosni Mubarak to say the government first heard from owner Al Salam Maritime Transport Co. that the ship was in danger at 7AM  Friday and was feared sunk at 7:45 AM.

By most accounts, the Al-Salaam Boccaccio 98 sank no later than 2 AM, five hours earlier. Other reports say the ship sank at 1 AM, which would have made the delay in notification at least six hours.

The public did not learn of the disaster for several more hours after the government was notified.

"What really happened was that the port authority was first informed at 7 AM by the ship's owners that they had lost contact with the ferry," Awad said. "Forty-five minutes later, the company told port officials the ship may have sunk."

Awad said the rescue center was notified "one minute later" and a plane was over the scene of the sinking by 8 AM.

"It was followed by another rescue plane and ships of the Egyptian fleet," he said.

The ferry set sail from Dubah, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday night, carrying more than 1,400 passengers and crew. Fierce winds whipped up a sandstorm as the vessel left port for the 130-mile crossing to Safaga.

Less than two hours into the voyage — with the ship about 40 miles off the Saudi coast — a fire broke out in the vehicle parking bay. The captain, apparently thinking the blaze had been extinguished, pressed on for Egypt, but the fire rekindled and raged out of control.

The ship sank early Friday about 60 miles from its destination. The number of survivors has been estimated at about 400.

Meanwhile, the captain of another ship owned by Al Salam Maritime, the St. Catherine, told a Cairo newspaper Tuesday he was informed by the owners as he left Safaga port in Egypt to try to make contact with the Al-Salaam Boccaccio 98 because they feared it was in trouble.

The St. Catherine captain, Salah Jomaa, said he left port at 2:45 AM, meaning the company was aware the ship was in danger by that time.
 
After repeatedly failing to make radio contact, Jomaa said he placed a satellite telephone call to the captain of the Al-Salaam Boccaccio 98 but received no answer.

Jomaa said he finally made contact at 6:57 AM with another officer of the ship who said he was in a lifeboat and the ship had gone down.

Jomaa said he reported the sinking to the Al Salam Maritime office in Safaga at 7:05 AM.

The manager of the company gave a similar account to The Associated Press last week but did not provide any times.

"Our agent in Safaga informed us that the ship was late, so we started making inquiries," said Mamdouh Orabi, an Al Salam Maritime manager. "At the same time, one of the ships we operate (the St. Catherine) was heading for Dubah.

"We informed its crew, which later reported that there were people on a rescue boat in the sea, so we notified the relevant authorities."

In an unusually biting column in the Egyptian government-owned Al-Ahram daily Tuesday, columnist Salama Ahmed Salama accused authorities of "impotence, failure and inefficiency in facing catastrophes."

The tragedy proves the government's "hardheartedness and indifference in dealing with the human feelings of thousands of citizens who lost their loved ones, as a result of negligence and corruption," he wrote. "The government and its officials — who feel no responsibility — should be questioned about this tragedy."

Awad said Mubarak told the Cabinet the catastrophe had shaken him and all Egyptians and that the investigation of the tragedy would uncover its true cause.

"Those who are responsible will not escape without punishment," Awad quoted Mubarak as saying. "There is no one in Egypt who is above law or questioning, and as an Egyptian, I am angry and sad for what happened."

Al-Jazeera television reported Tuesday that Saudi authorities refused to allow passengers to board an Egyptian ferry that authorities deemed unsafe.

"The ferry arrived in Duba about midnight Monday. We made our checks and found it was in a bad state. It was old," the Arab network quoted a Saudi port official as saying.

(Chinadaily.com via agencies February 8, 2006)