McTag wrote:It had 2 extra upper decks added, too.
These vessels would not get a licence to operate in Europe.
The ship was on scheduled ferry service e.g. Beirut - Ancona from 18.06.2004 until 14.12.2004; before that on the Savona - Tanger route, before that Genua - Tunis ... ...
I know that people will think this is sick, but it's been buggin' me since i firts heard of this story.
The first thing which leapt into my mind was, Lord Jim, and S.S. Patna.
As seen before, these vessels, with no bulkheads on the lowed decks (to allow for movement of motor vehicles) are made unstable by water lying on the loading deck. The water in this case caused not by a leak, but apparently by attempts at firefighting.
Setanta wrote:
The first thing which leapt into my mind was, Lord Jim,
That was the first thing I thought of also.
From various sources collected (BBC, CNN and reuters originally):
Rescuers pulled only a handful more survivors from the Red Sea on Sunday. A total of 195 bodies have been recovered so far, suggesting the final death toll may reach 1,000.
Police on Sunday put the number of those rescued at 401 -- up by 25 from the day before and an indication that few more survivors would be found. A total of 195 bodies have been recovered.
Among the survivors was 5-year-old Mohammed Ahmed Hassan who was at sea for more than 20 hours, kept afloat by a life ring. Doctors at Hurghada General Hospital said the boy was in good condition but apparently had lost his parents, sister and brother.
Mubarak has ordered an investigation into the ferry sinking.
But independent Egyptian newspapers have accused his government of protecting the ship's owner, who they say is close to a top official in Mubarak's government. The weekly independent paper Soutelomma, often critical of the government, said two other ferries owned by the same company had sunk in the past 10 years, without the government properly investigating or putting the company's owner on trial.
The crisis began when a fire broke out in the aging vessel's parking bay, as it was about 20 miles from the Saudi shore where it had sailed from, survivors said Sunday. The crew decided to push across the Red Sea, to try to reach Egypt's shores 110 miles away, despite the fire.
As the blaze grew out of control, many passengers moved to one side of the 35-year-old vessel. An explosion was heard, and high winds helped push the unbalanced ship over.
The rescue mission is reported to have been launched several hours after the ferry sank.
And the crew are accused of ignoring warnings to evacuate after the fire broke out on board and the ship began to list.
One survivor told the BBC the alarm system was not working. Others say there were not enough lifeboats and lifejackets for all the passengers.
If the ferry can sail under a flag of convenance, Panama, why is it not subject all other maritime regulations? A rule requiring sufficient life boats for all on board was established after the Titanic sinking in 1912.
I heard on an earlier news report that they had lifeboats enough for 1000 people, but did not launch them.
Also, that the captain and officers were among the first to leave the vessel.
Also, that the capsize was quite quick, after a certain point of instability was reached.
I cannot verify any of these points, I just heard them on TV news reports.