An American diver has died after a fire on a safari boat to the north of Marsa Alam in the Southern Egyptian Red Sea earlier today.
Details are scarce, but we do know that the 18 other guests, who apparently hailed from various countries, were rescued, along with 12 Egyptian crew members, from the boat – referred to in reports as the Suzana.
Qusayr Prosecution has started its investigation, under the supervision of Attorney General Nabil Abuzinah, into the incident.
It is only a few months since the devastating boat fire on the Conception off California, which claimed the lives of 34 people, so this incident, while tragic, could have been far more serious and seen additional casualties.
When did this happen and why did take so long to be reported?
It happened on Friday and we reported it on Friday.
Why you don’t say the name I’d the ship: this is the red sea aggressor 1?
The reason is most liveaboard companies doesn’t want to spend too much money into safety on board.
I did already 4 liveboards: the contessa Mia, the amelia, emperor aasma, princess rani. If one of those vessels should sail in Europe, then immediately their licence will be taken away!
I know the rules very well since I am working for big ocean going vessels.
The main problem is the same on all liveboards: a combination of no fire protection(that works)+ improper electrical installation on board.
I personally checked the engine room, the bridge and all switchboards on all liveboards I did: on all of them I found so many issues…
I think this year was my last liveboard because aperantely safety on all liveboards seems not to be improved.
Do you have any more information on how the fire may have started? This is the Red Sea Aggressor. I received an email notifying me about the fire and change of vessel for my upcoming trip. However, when I asked if there were any fatalities I was told one passenger is missing (this is 3 days after your news story broke so either Aggressor is keeping its employees in the dark or they are outright lying to their customers).
We don’t have any more information at this time.
We have also received an email and not been offered an option for a refund. Will this be a wake up call? Or are we putting our lives at risk for continuing with this trip.
Here you can read the real story https://www.scubaboard.com/community/threads/fire-on-safari-boat-suzana-in-egypt-red-sea-aggressor.587209/page-14?fbclid=IwAR08X5lYFDjEVeobmByJUPfvENVcpR39HZ-u7BDROEFQXDAwmIZO-Co80is just follow the link. I was on that boat when the and I woke up because of the smoke in my cabin. The crew was still a sleep.
Would be great to see more follow up on this to shed light on what actually happened. He’s an article from one of the passengers of the boat that went down. It’s in German and you may have to bust out the Google translate on it.
https://taucher.net/diveinside-aegypten_-_feuer_auf_safarischiff__der_untergang_der_red_sea_aggressor_1_-kaz8118?fbclid=IwAR1u4rF2ZfpfD1OE8PBoFOSCxX01V5EWEDHF81hCCkihi29zb816RSnI4H0
I just got back from Egypt and was on another boat doing the same tour that week. Was often anchored at the same dive sites as the Agressor 1. We heard about what happened when we got back to port (they also were using the name Suzana) and a rumor was out that it was the American girls fault she died because they had everyone rounded up to get off the boat but she ran back down insisting to get her laptop or something when the boat exploded while she was in the lower decks. Seems like total BS as this article paints a totally different story. Other than this rumor and that a boat caught fire, there was no other news on what happened. I was in hurghada another 4 days after (just got back yesterday) and not one peep more… like it never even happened.
We don’t have any more information yet. We have requested an official statement.
Here is a full report in English: https://taucher.net/diveinside-egypt__red_sea_aggressor_1_burning-kaz8119
Here is a full report in English:
https://taucher.net/diveinside-egypt__red_sea_aggressor_1_burning-kaz8119
A lot of the boats in the Red Sea are getting old and as someone said earlier in this thread not licensed or built to European standards.
In my experience operators normally give a safety briefing soon after you get on board so Why not ask them where the fire alarm panel is When it was last tested and then to demonstrate the fire alarm.
Perhaps we should all be asking those questions when booking !
As part of your dive or holiday kit take a smoke detector and some double sided sticky pads they aren’t expensive and stick it to the ceiling just outside your cabin!!
And tell the dive guide.
We do need to take more responsibility for our own safety in everything we do.
Best thing you can do is buy a battery operated SMOKE DETECTOR and bring with you on your trip. They cost about $15 or $20. Give it to the boat crew when you depart. Safe travels.