Egypt tourist boat sinks off Red Sea, 17 missing 

Sixteen people including 12 foreign nationals are missing after a tourist boat capsized off Egypt’s Red Sea coast, the local government has said.

The boat, Sea Story, was carrying 44 people, including 31 tourists of varying nationalities and 13 crew on a multi-day diving trip when it sank on Monday near the town of Marsa Alam, the Red Sea Governorate said in a statement, revising an earlier report of 14 Egyptian crew aboard.

Twenty-eight people were rescued and had only minor injuries such as bruises and scrapes with none requiring hospitalisation, it said.

Red Sea Governor Amr Hanafi said that preliminary reports suggested a sudden large wave struck the boat, sinking it within five to seven minutes.

“Some passengers were in their cabins, which is why they were unable to escape,” he added in the statement.

Efforts to locate more survivors were ongoing in coordination with the Egyptian navy and army, officials told Reuters news agency.

The foreign nationals aboard the 34-metre-long vessel, owned by an Egyptian national, included Americans, Belgians, British, Chinese, Finns, Germans, Irish, Poles, Slovakians, Spanish, and Swiss people.

The governorate said a distress call was received at 5:30am (03:30 GMT) and that the boat had departed from Port Ghalib in Marsa Alam on Sunday, with plans to return to Hurghada Marina on November 29.

According to Ahram Online, the Egyptian Meteorological Authority had forecast turbulent seas in the Mediterranean and Red Seas, and advised the suspension of all maritime activities on Sunday and Monday.

It also said that wave heights were predicted to reach 4-6 metres (13-20 feet) in the Mediterranean and 3-4 metres (10-13 feet) in the Red Sea.

It was unclear how the vessel got permission to sail amid the inclement weather.

The Red Sea is a popular diving destination renowned for its coral reefs and marine life, key to Egypt’s vital tourism industry.

In 2023, three British tourists went missing and 12 were rescued after a motor boat caught fire off Marsa Alam.

The year 2016 saw one of the worst sea disasters in Egypt, when a boat carrying about 600 migrants sank in the Mediterranean, killing at least 170 people.