5 more have been rescued after tourist yacht sank in Egypt’s Red Sea

Egypt’s naval forces rescued five people on Tuesday and recovered four bodies, a day after a tourist yacht carrying 44 passengers sank in the Red Sea coastal town of Marsa Alam, officials said, after battling difficult weather conditions.

The survivors now number 33, while seven people are still missing.

Sea Story, a cruise ship used mainly for maritime activities, sent out a distress signal after a large wave hit the ship, causing it to capsize, according to accounts from survivors. Some of the passengers were inside the cabins when the boat overturned within minutes, according to eyewitness accounts.

A rescue operation was ordered and 28 people were rescued from the boat on Monday.

On Tuesday, the governor of the Red Sea region, Amr Hanafy, said that the five survivors were two Belgians, an Egyptian, a Swiss citizen and a Finnish national. He also said that the four bodies had not yet been identified.

The ship was carrying 13 Egyptians, including crew members, and 31 foreign nationals from the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, Belgium, Switzerland, Finland, China, Slovakia, Spain and Ireland.

On Tuesday, the German Foreign Ministry said that three Germans were still missing and that three others had been rescued.

Paweł Wroński, spokesman for the Polish Foreign Ministry, said that two Polish nationals, a man and a woman, were also missing and that their families had been notified.

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The cruise ships usually leave the port for excursions lasting several days. The Sea Story left Port Ghalib in Marsa Alam on Sunday and was due to dock in Hurghada five days later. It sank 46 nautical miles off Marsa Alam, according to the governor.

The boat had no technical problems, had obtained all the necessary permits before the voyage and had undergone a final naval safety check in March, the authorities said. The Sea Story was built in 2022 and can accommodate 36 passengers, according to the website of the boat’s operator, Dive Pro Liveaboard.