Early today, March 27, a tourist submarine with 45 people on board sank in the Red Sea. The vessel, owned by Sinbad Submarines, was cruising off the Egyptian coastal city of Hurghada, a popular tourist destination, when it went down.
Six passengers lost their lives and over a dozen more were injured. The surviving 39 passengers have all been rescued. Authorities still don’t know what caused the disaster.
Submarine cruise in the Red Sea
According to the Russian Consulate, all the passengers aboard were Russian citizens. The 45 tourists included minors, but most of their identities are not yet known.
They had boarded the submarine, one of two recreational underwater craft operated by the company, for a brief tour of the coral reefs. The company has operated its submarine tours for several years. The submarine was fully licensed, and the captain had the required certificates, according to the Red Sea governor.
One of the submarines, submerged near a Red Sea reef. Photo: Sinbad Submarines
But something went wrong when they were about 20 meters down. Unconfirmed reports suggest that they may have hit a reef, causing the submarine to lose pressure.
At only 20 meters, the pressure loss wasn’t as catastrophic as the 2023 implosion which destroyed the Oceangate Titan submersible near the Titanic. But the effect was still devastating.
Ambulances crowded the docks as rescue vehicles raced to the wreck site, about one kilometer off the coast. Twenty-nine survivors were pulled from the water in the immediate aftermath. In the following hours, a further 10 survivors were rescued and rushed to the hospital. Six are now confirmed deceased.
Two of those dead were married Russian doctors. Their now-orphaned daughters, also onboard, are reportedly hospitalized. Another two of the victims, according to Russian officials, were children.
Another Red Sea wreck
Thursday’s tragedy is not a lone incident in the Red Sea. In recent years, a series of accidents involving tourist vessels have occurred there.
Last winter, Britain’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) issued a warning to its own citizens against maritime tourism in the Red Sea. They issued the warning after the 44-meter Sea Story yacht sank, claiming 11. A further three British vacationers lost their lives on the Red Sea in June 2024 when their dive boat caught fire.
The ‘Sea Story’ sank in late 2024, leaving 11 dead. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
On the same day that MAIB issued the warning, another Red Sea vessel capsized. The dive boat Triton went down just north of Hurghada, but rescuers successfully retrieved all six passengers.
Officially, the Sea Story sank due to bad weather. Survivors interviewed by the BBC later, however, remembered the weather being normal. Likewise, it was clear and mild when today’s submarine went down.
It remains to be seen what caused today’s incident, and what is behind the safety crisis striking Red Sea tourist vessels.
