Six Russians died on Thursday and 39 foreign tourists were rescued when a viewing submarine sank off the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada, the local governor’s office said on Facebook, adding no passengers or crew were missing.
The Red Sea governorate said the submarine, named Sindbad, had 45 tourists from Russia, India, Norway and Sweden and five Egyptian crew members onboard.
“Most of those on board were rescued and taken to their hotels and hospitals in Hurghada,” the Russian consulate in Hurghada said.
The submarine was equipped with large portholes to let passengers see the Red Sea’s spectacular corals and marine life, and was able to descend to a depth of 25m, according to the company’s website.
The pleasure craft was a far cry from the extreme adventure submersible that imploded thousands of metres below the Atlantic near the sunken Titanic in June 2023.
The Red Sea is a major hub for Egypt’s crucial tourism industry, a pillar of the economy, in which Russian tourists play an increasing part. Egypt also attracts tourists with its great pyramids of Giza and cruises on the Nile in Luxor and Aswan.
Successive Egyptian governments have waged successful crackdowns on Islamist militant groups who hurt the tourism industry with attacks on foreigners in the past.
Egyptian authorities are conducting investigations with crew members to determine the cause of the submarine sinking, the local governorate cited Red Sea province governor Amr Hanafy as saying.
The submarine, owned by an Egyptian, was licensed and so was the crew captain, he said.
There have been several recent incidents of tourist boats capsizing. Last June, a boat sank after suffering severe damage from high waves, though no casualties were reported.
In November, a tourist boat capsized while carrying 31 tourists and 13 crew on a multi-day diving trip. Local media reported at least 11 people had died in the incident, which was blamed on high waves.
At the time, the governor of the Red Sea province said the boat, Sea Story, had passed a safety inspection eight months earlier.
Last month, a tourist boat capsized while en route to Hurghada after undergoing maintenance.
The tourism ministry and the chamber of diving did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
A UN report ranked Egypt first in Africa for tourism revenues in 2024 at $14.1bn (R258bn), more than twice its earnings in Suez Canal revenues, highlighting tourism’s vital role in sustaining the hard-pressed economy.
Source: Times Live
