At least six Russian nationals were killed when a tourist submarine sank on Thursday during a routine underwater sightseeing trip off the coast of Hurghada, an upscale resort city in the Red Sea, in Egypt.
The vessel, owned by a private tourism company called Sindbad Submarines, was intended to transport tourists underwater to view coral reefs and marine life, which are both significant draws in the area.
The vessel reportedly sank from Hurghada, Egypt, about 1 kilometer (0. 6 miles).
The ship quickly sank at around 10am local time (08:00 GMT), despite the crew’s efforts to surface and evacuate passengers.
On board, who was there?
At the time of the incident, Egyptian crew members and 45 tourists were on board the submarine, according to Red Sea Governor Amr Hanafi in a statement.
The 45-ton submarine was also confirmed by the Russian consulate in Hurghada.
Nationals from Russia, Norway, Sweden, and India were among the tourists.
Who died in the incident, and are there still missing people?
Four adults and two children were among the six fatalities that Hanafi identified as Russians, including four adults and two children.
According to Russian media, the victims included members of the same family who had been on vacation in Egypt, but authorities have not yet released all of their names until their families are informed.
According to Egyptian officials, a married couple and two doctors were also among the deceased.
No one is missing after the 39 tourists and five crew members who haven’t been rescued.
29 of them, however, were injured. Four people are still in critical condition and are in the intensive care unit, according to Hanafi, despite the majority of injuries being classified as non-life-threatening, such as bruises, cuts, and mild hypothermia.
The submarine sank, but why?
No specific reason for the vessel’s sinking has been given by Egyptian or Russian officials, and investigations are still being conducted.
However, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia claimed that the submarine had struck a reef while it was 20 meters (65 feet) below the surface of the ocean and that pressure then started to wane.
The likelihood of the seawater flooding into the vessel would have increased because water moves from high pressure to low-pressure areas.
What are survivors’ remark?
That’s exactly what happened, according to survivors. Passengers scrambled to the surface as the vessel was flooded with water.
According to Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper, Elena Boldareva claimed the submarine started to dive with hatches open.
Boldareva said, “Some people managed to swim out, some didn’t, and some people did just as well.”
Boldareva and her husband managed to leave, but their daughter and mother were taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
They were one of the many people who had been treated and monitored at Hurghada General Hospital.
What has the government done?
Egyptian authorities immediately acted by launching an urgent search and rescue operation led by the Red Sea governorate and the Egyptian coastguard. Within an hour, divers were dispatched to the location, and several boats helped to bring survivors to shore.
Hanafi claimed that the crew members were being investigated for the cause of the sinking and that the submarine had all the necessary licenses and passed technical inspections.
Is there a rise in underwater tourism?
The underwater tourism sector, led by Sindbad Submarines, is rapidly expanding globally. The industry, which focuses on underwater reef exploration and scuba diving, was thought to be worth $36 billion in 2017 and is thought to have grown only since.
A number of businesses currently run underwater tours in submersibles and other underwater vessels that require a bigger platform to travel.
However, some experts have expressed concern that industry regulations are unable to maintain the industry’s growth.
Five people were aboard the Titan, a privately held submersible, when it went missing off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada in June 2023. Four tourists and the owner of the vessel, OceanGate, were among them. Four days later, investigators discovered debris from the submersible, leading to the discovery that all five of the five people had died as a result.
What follows?
Concerns have been raised about Egyptian tourism safety standards, particularly for popular Red Sea activities like snorkeling and diving.
Due to the risk of regional conflicts, many tourist operators have stopped or restricted travel to the Red Sea.
Hurghada-based Sindbad Submarines, which operates two tourist submarines, has not yet released a statement regarding the incident. The website appeared to be up and running again after briefly being offline.
The submarines are engineered in Finland to “assure safety and reliability” by withstanding underwater pressure up to 75 meters (246 feet).
