Cairo – Egypt’s presidential spokesman said Tuesday that the owners of the Red Sea ferry that sank last week, drowning about 1,000 people, did not inform the government of the disaster for nearly six hours.
Suleiman Awad emerged from a Cabinet session chaired by President Hosni Mubarak to say the government first heard from owner Al Salam Maritime Transport Co. that the ship was in danger at 7 a.m. Friday and was feared sunk at 7:45 a.m.
By most accounts, the Al-Salaam Boccaccio 98 sank no later than 2 a.m., five hours earlier. Other reports say the ship sank at 1 a.m., which would have made the delay in notification at least six hours.
The public did not learn of the disaster for several more hours after the government was notified.
“What really happened was that the port authority was first informed at 7 a.m. by the ship’s owners that they had lost contact with the ferry,” Awad said. “Forty-five minutes later, the company told port officials the ship may have sunk.” Awad said the rescue center was notified “one minute later” and a plane was over the scene of the sinking by 8 a.m.
“It was followed by another rescue plane and ships of the Egyptian fleet,” he said.
The ferry set sail from Dubah, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday night, carrying more than 1,400 passengers and crew. Fierce winds whipped up a sandstorm as the vessel left port for the 130-mile crossing to Safaga.
Less than two hours into the voyage – with the ship about 40 miles off the Saudi coast – a fire broke out. The captain, apparently thinking the blaze had been extinguished, pressed on for Egypt, but the fire rekindled and raged out of control.
The ship sank about 60 miles from its destination. An estimated 400 people aboard survived.
