Egyptian Ferry Sinks: 1400 onboard!

[stan_deezy]

This sounds grim: Egyptian Ferry Sinks <br /><br />1400 people reported to have been on board and so far only a handful of survivors.........and no mayday call?<br /><br />WTH happened so quickly that they couldn't call? Did it turn turtle?

 

[heycods]

Re: Egyptian Ferry Sinks: 1400 onboard!

?????????

 

[bootle]

Re: Egyptian Ferry Sinks: 1400 onboard!

No details released as of yet <br /><br />My first thought was maybe it could have struck a mine

 

[stan_deezy]

Re: Egyptian Ferry Sinks: 1400 onboard!

Yeah but surely a mine wouldn't stop a distress signal? Perhaps it is as speculated: the ship hit some rough weather and the cargo shifted suddenly: I've seen that happen on smaller vessels and cause them to capsize very quickly and without distress calls going out. <br /><br />I'm amazed that they don't have sarbe's fitted as standard? What happened to IMO standards?<br /><br />Desperately tragic to potentially lose as many people.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: Egyptian Ferry Sinks: 1400 onboard!

I have been watching a bit of it this morning, how terrible. usually when they filp like that its due to load shift or the ramp doors leak. I seem to remember a ferry, from england I think, that sank in sight of land that way a few years back.<br /> thats why the ferry ride from caracas to margarita Is scared me last year. I dont trust big ferries on big waters and its an 8 hour tour.<br /> but I would never get on a ferry in asia.

 

[kenimpzoom]

Re: Egyptian Ferry Sinks: 1400 onboard!

Yep, thats pretty bad.<br /><br />Rodbolt the ferry you are thinking about the bow would tilt up to let cars in. In rough weather the locks failed and the bow tilted up. It capsised really really fast.<br /><br />Ken

 

[jinx]

Re: Egyptian Ferry Sinks: 1400 onboard!

I don't know the details, but I heard that there was a severe Tstorm.<br /><br />What has happened in the past on Filipino ferries is that the crowd will move suddenly to get away from spray and capsize the ship. Could have happened here.<br /><br />You can guarantee that loading was not up to any acceptable standards.<br /><br />I crossed the Suez canal in 1981. The boat, a small one at that, was loaded by how much they could cram on, not by any logical capacity. I was concerned enough I told my GF to take her backpack off in case it went under.<br /><br />Jinx

 

[rodbolt]

Re: Egyptian Ferry Sinks: 1400 onboard!

Ken<br /> I cant remember all the details on that ferry but best I remember it went down in sight of the coast due to the bow doors taking on water and when the hull tipped the load shifted and it was all over in a minute or two.<br /> south america loads ferries,trucks and Busses like that. pack it till its unstable and go.<br /> that was the longest 8 hour ride I ever took .<br /> odds are real high Ill never do it again, about the same as the odds of me being on a buss there.

 

[rolmops]

Re: Egyptian Ferry Sinks: 1400 onboard!

The ElSalaam maritime transportcompany does not have a very good name.In 1991 one of their ferries,The Salaam Express, sank after hitting a coral reef.464 people died.In October,a sister ship the El Salam 95 sank after a collision with a Cypriot trader.All passengers were saved.Now the El Salam 98 went under.<br />Egyptian authorities have refused help from British, Dutch and Israeli naval vessels that were in the area.<br />The latest news just in, is that 290 survivors were found so far.

 

[stan_deezy]

Re: Egyptian Ferry Sinks: 1400 onboard!

There were two car ferry incidents in Europe and there may be some confusion on which ones were which: hence the slight confusion with Kiz and rodbolt:<br /><br />1. The Zeebruge ferry incident was caused by the bow doors not being shut as the ship put to sea: they didn't lift up over the bow they were folding doors that slid aft of the bow section. The skipper thought they were closed but had no way of checking this and was unable to see them from the bridge. He left harbour into a head-sea with the doors open and the sea rushed into the vehicle deck with the consequent capsize and loss of life within sight of the harbour. If my memory is correct that was in 1988. Subsequently all ferries of that design have been upgraded with cctv cameras and warning systems so that the skipper/bridge crew can monitor the doors at all times.<br /><br />2. The Estonian car ferry encountered heavy seas and due to metal fatigue her "up and over" bow door failed and lifted and then sheared cleanly off! She had a second set of doors designed to assist in maintaining watertight integrity if the ship had a bow door problem but these weren't robust enough to deal with the sea force they encountered. The sea engulfed the vehicle deck and she sank in very quick time. Loss of life was high due to the speed of sinking and the freezing cold water temperatures.<br /><br />In the Egyptian case we appear to be looking at around 900-1000 people missing presumed dead.<br />Survivors are speaking of a fire onboard that had been raging for "several hours", insufficient lifeboats and no help or assistance from the crew..................

 

[QC]

Re: Egyptian Ferry Sinks: 1400 onboard!

Passengers reported that they were under way for more than three hours while the crew was attempting to bring the fire under control. Not sure why that makes her sink so quickly that they didn't get a signal out