M/Y Sea Story Capsizes, Leaves 16 People Missing

Nov 25, 2024 by Kevin Maher

M/Y Sea Story, a luxury tourism yacht, capsized on the Red Sea today with 44 people on board.

M/Y Sea Story, a 44-meter timber-hulled luxury tourism yacht, capsized in the Red Sea today after the vessel left Port Ghalib Marina on Sunday for a diving trip that was scheduled to last until Friday. M/Y Sea Story had 44 people on board, including a 13-person Egyptian crew and 31 tourists from different countries. People from Belgium, Britain, China, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States were on board at the time.

Regional Red Sea authorities received a distress signal at 5:30 a.m. local time and dispatched search and rescue teams to the location immediately. Egyptian authorities later announced the rescue of 28 people while 16 remain missing. Of the 16 missing, 12 are foreigners and four are Egyptian. Major General Amr Hanafi, the governor of the Red Sea, said the sinking “unfolded rapidly” when a large wave hit Sea Story.

“This was the preliminary cause of the incident, according to accounts from both foreign and Egyptian crewmembers,” Hanafi said. “The situation unfolded rapidly, taking only five to seven minutes, and some passengers were trapped inside cabins, preventing their escape.”

The vessel’s operator, Dive Pro Liveaboard, told journalists that they had no information regarding the incident. M/Y Sea Story is Dive Pro Liveaboard’s third vessel to experience a serious incident in the Red Sea in as many years, according to The Telegraph. Searches of the area were paused for the night at 5 p.m. according to an Egyptian government source.

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Kevin Maher is Triton's editor-in-chief.

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