Egyptian ferry "Salaam 98" sinks to apparent huge loss of life

The passenger and cargo ferry Al-Salaam Boccaccio 98 sunk in the Red Sea last night 40 miles from the Egyptian port of Hurghada with 1,400 passengers and crew on board. The vessel sailed from Dubah, Saudi Arabia at 7 pm Thursday for Safaga, Egypt, 120 miles away, and never arrived.

The first hint of disaster to shoreside personnel came when the ship disappeared from radar, and rescue operations began an hour later.

Helicopters and rescue vessels arriving on scene have, so far, found few lifeboats and few survivors from among the mostly Egyptian travelers on board. The cause is still unknown, although rough seas were reported in the area.

Such "roll-on, roll-off" ferries, with a huge bow door that swings down to let vehicles easily drive on and off, have a disquieting history of sinking like a rock in the event there is a mechanical problem with the bow door's watertight seal or if it is operated incorrectly.

UPDATE 2/3/06 8:40 PM: A cause for this tragedy has not been officially determined, but we predict it will involve the bow door, either as a primary or secondary cause. The problem with these "ro-ro," roll-off, roll-on, ferries is that if anything at all goes wrong with the bow door, the result is quick catastrophe as water floods in. Reports of heavy weather support this theory, in that a minor problem with the bow door, that wouldn't cause problems in calm seas, would become a major problem when put to the test.

There remains no cause for optimism, as reports have only about 300 of the 1,400 souls on board accounted for as rescued.