Irish citizen OK after Red Sea boat sinking, says Martin

An Irish citizen who was on board a tourist yacht that sank in the Red Sea off Egypt yesterday is "OK and receiving consular assistance from the Department of Foreign Affairs", Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has said.

Rescuers today recovered four bodies and four survivors, with eight people still missing.

Among the survivors were two Belgians, one Swiss national and one Egyptian, the governor said, bringing the total number of survivors from the vessel to 32.

The four dead have not yet been identified and eight people remain missing.

"My understanding is that Irish citizen is OK and receiving consular assistance from the Department of Foreign Affairs," Mr Martin said.

In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said it is aware of the case and "is in direct contact with the citizen concerned".

The vessel was carrying 31 tourists of multiple nationalities and a 13-member crew when it was hit by a large wave early yesterday, leading it to capsize near Marsa Alam in southeastern Egypt.

The 'Sea Story' had embarked on a multi-day diving trip on Sunday and had been due to dock on Friday at the town of Hurghada, 200km north.

Red Sea governor Amr Hanafi said the boat had sunk within five to seven minutes of its impact with the wave, leaving some passengers - among them European, Chinese and American tourists - unable to escape their cabins in time.

Rescuers from the military and a passing tourist boat had pulled 28 people from the waters yesterday.

According to a source at a hospital in Marsa Alam, six tourists and three Egyptians were admitted with minor injuries and discharged yesterday.

The tourists included "two Germans, two Britons, one Spaniard and one Swiss national," the hospital administrator told AFP, requesting anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

According to the governor's office, the boat was carrying tourists from Belgium, Britain, China, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and the United States.

Among the missing are two Polish and two Finnish tourists, according to both countries' foreign ministries.

Authorities have said the vessel was fully licensed and had passed all its inspection checks. A preliminary investigation showed no technical fault.

The Marsa Alam area experienced at least two similar boat accidents earlier this year but there were no fatalities.

The Red Sea coast is a major tourist destination in Egypt, a country of 107 million that is in the grip of a serious economic crisis.

Nationally, the tourism sector employs two million people and generates more than 10 percent of its GDP.
Dozens of dive boats crisscross between Red Sea coral reefs and islands off Egypt's eastern coast every day, where safety regulations are robust but unevenly enforced.

Earlier this month, 30 people were rescued from a sinking dive boat near the Red Sea's Daedalus reef.
In June, two dozen French tourists were evacuated safely before their boat sank in a similar accident.

Last year, three British tourists died when a fire broke out on their yacht.