Some 37 people were rescued from a sinking RoRo ship near Egypt’s Safaga Port, located on the coast of the Red Sea, on Sunday.
The ship, identified as Taba, was underway some 20 nautical miles from Safaga, bound for Saudi’s port of Duba, when it started to sink, the Red Sea Ports Authority informed.
As informed by the port’s authority spokesperson Abd ElReheem Mustafa, the cause of the listing was improper loading as more trucks were loaded on one side of the vessel than on the other, causing the vessel to lose balance and sink.
The ship’s crew and passengers were rescued by the Egyptian naval forces, who were rushed to the scene by the Safaga Naval Base having received a distress signal from the ship’s crew.
Three crew members are reported to have suffered fractures whereas six other passengers were reported to have sustained bruises.
The 3,133 dwt ship was built in 1985 and is managed by Lebanon-based SeaChart Marine.
Investigation into the incident is underway.
World Maritime News Staff