Seventeen people missing after Red Sea tour boat sinks in Egypt

Search and rescue operations are underway to locate 17 passengers and crew members of a tourist boat that sank off Egypt’s Red Sea Coast early Monday.

The Sea Story, a tourist yacht, was carrying 31 tourists of different nationalities and 14 crew members when it reportedly went down under the Red Sea waters early Monday soon after setting sail for a five-day cruise.

“Rescue workers have so far managed, with the support of Egyptian Navy and Air Force, to rescue 28 people after the yacht sank during a diving trip, which took off from Porto Ghalib Marina, south of Marsa Alam, in south-eastern Egypt, a day earlier,” the Red Sea Governor said in an official statement.

“The survivors have been receiving the necessary medical care,” the governor added, without elaborating further on their conditions.

No deaths have been reported at the time of publication.

Military frigates and aircraft are combing the waters, in collaboration with local authorities, as part of search and rescue efforts. 

The yacht was scheduled to return to Hurghada Marina on Monday and return back to port on Friday, but a distress signal was sent from the boat at about 5:30am Cairo Local Time (3.30am GMT) on Monday.

The cause of the incident remains unclear, but a local security source told The New Arab, on condition of anonymity for not being authorised to brief the media, that “initial findings indicated the boat may have crashed into coral [reefs] underneath the Red Sea”. 

The incident coincided with unstable weather conditions erupting about 48 hours earlier across the country. 

The Egyptian Meteorological Authority had earlier forecasted turbulence in the Mediterranean and Red seas, recommending that all maritime activities be suspended on Sunday and Monday.

Egypt’s Red Sea resorts, including Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh, are some of the country’s major beach destinations and are popular with European tourists. 

Last year, deadly shark attacks, erupting in other parts of the Red Sea, raised concerns about the safety of tourists in the Arab World’s most populous country.

Tourism is a significant source of Egypt’s national income and foreign currency. In 2023, the sector contributed about 24 percent of the country’s GDP and nearly 8.1 percent of its economy.