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)
