A German woman is missing, presumed dead following a fire onboard the
Dive Pro Liveaboard-operated MY
Sea Legend, which caught fire during the early hours of 22 February, and sank shortly afterwards.
The liveaboard departed from Hurghada on 17 February for a tour of the Brothers, Daedalus and Elphinstone reefs, and was just 3km from shore when the fire broke out. 17 passengers of varying nationalities, 12 Egyptian crew and two Egyptian dive guides were on board.
According to a report in the German scuba magazine
Taucher.net, eyewitness statements suggest the fire started in the kitchen, and quickly spread. Those on board were forced to evacuate in under 10 minutes after being woken by the smell of smoke. Some – perhaps fortunately – said they were already half-awake due to the vessel’s passage through heavy seas.
In an interview posted on
Taucher’s YouTube channel, four of the divers say that the situation was very chaotic, that none of the crew or guides took responsibility for the evacuation; and although the crew managed to lower the two zodiacs into the water, the liveaboard was still moving, enshrouding the dive platform in smoke and making it virtually impossible to board them safely.
One of the zodiac’s engines was not working, while the other was poorly inflated and taking on water. The boats were tethered together, and shortly after the passengers left the
Sea Legend, two large explosions were heard coming from the stricken vessel. There were no life vests, no lights, no emergency flares, and there is uncertainty amongst the passengers as to whether or not an emergency SOS call was ever sent from the dive boat – some passengers had brought mobile phones and were attempting to raise the alert with the weak signal available.
divemagazine.com
