Globe-trotters, divers, sailors, cyclists, pilots on solar airplanes –– those heading around the world like to capture their adventures so their loved ones can follow. That’s what a tourist did when they boarded the M/Y Sea Story on November 24, this year, a liveaboard diving adventure luxury yacht promising 3 dives a day. Egypt’s Red Sea is the most population destination in the world for divers because of its proximity to Europe –– only a 4-hour plane ride to Cairo, then a day bus trip to the seashore town of Marsa Alam.
There were 33 tourists onboard, all seasoned divers, expecting to go on challenging and adventurous dives into the Red Sea coral reefs, with the help of a team of 11, divers, cooks and a captain of the boat. For reasons that no official is yet saying the 3-story yacht listed 3 times and on its third, tipped into the sea and did not recover its balance. At that moment 23 people, including crew managed to jump from the capsized wreck into the sea, and most found life boats back to shore.
The story ends tragically when a day and a half later rescue divers finally went in. They heard knocking on the boat and with a beloved family member inside, one of the Egyptian rescue team insisted they go in. According to some accounts the Navy prevented the rescue divers from going into the boat. According to others the divers were afraid to go in the water because of the sharks. But they did go in but it took 36 hours since the boat started sinking.
After 36 hours from capsizing (varying accounts say an alarm was sent to another boat at 1:30am, others say the sinking happened at 2:30 or 3:30am on November 25) 5 people were rescued from inside their cabins. Those close to the wreck said they were farther out than they should be and saw a ship in the shipping lane passing in the distance.
After reaching out to the booking company (Dive Pro Liveaboard), local divers in the region, some associated with the company and who have local intel, the Navy and the local dive association, The Chamber of Diving and Water Sports, no one was willing to give the exact location when the boat first sent its distress signal. Rumors circulating suggest that the captain was the cook and that perhaps he or others in charge were inebriated (stoned), but since the “Authorities” in Egypt aren’t speaking to anyone, survivors and families of those who have lost their loved ones in the accident, are doing their own guess work.
We did have a diver “insider” reach out to us with the coordinates of the rescue, 36 hours after the boat listed and remained slightly above water. We spoke with a survivor’s daughter and he said his room’s porthole was above the water. The rescue boats following them did not give survivors trapped in Sea Story any indication they weren’t alone. No Navy ship blew its horn. In what could be a tragic story, if true, one anonymous source said the rescue crew followed the boat for 3 days after the 5 people and 4 bodies were pulled from the wreck on November 25. It is possible people were still inside alive.
We still don’t no where the boat first listed and why. We don’t know where the boat finally sank, although one source that can’t be named says it is in 1000 meters of water.
The family of the victim sent us their last Polarstar location, and you can see it here below. They say they were getting a signal as of December 2. This is the last transmission they’ve had. The location was sent at 14:50 November 25, many hours after the boat would leave the Port Ghalib. And it was transmitting until December 2, according to her in-laws that sent us this information. Does this give us any more clues about what happened when the Sea Story sunk?
If you want to follow the story more deeply, we have half a dozen articles that start here> Sea Story sinking.
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