Constellation Marine Surveyors’ Post

Transcript

Right, bit of a serious topic to consider now because seven people are still believed to be missing after a tourist boat sank off the coast of Egypt on. Monday it was five people were rescued yesterday, bringing the total number to 31, but sadly four more bodies were recovered in the Red Sea. Now it's thought a really large wave hit this boat, which is not small. It was 34 metres long, it had four decks. It was a modern vessel and it was just South of the coastal town of Marsa Alam when the accident happened. It was carrying 31 passengers and 13. True, and it's a really sort of worrying story, not least because many of us, you know, might choose to go on holiday around the Red Sea. Let's talk about it. I'm joined now in the studio by Captain Zarir Irani, managing director of Constellation Marine Services for Dubai, Abu Dhabi and for Jira. Very knowledgeable man indeed when it comes to matters of the sea. Captain, thank you so much for joining me. Pleasure. Thank you for having us. Ohh. It's such a pleasure to have you with us. Tell me, is this incident unusual? Yes, it is unusual and. Boats of. That calibre. Are designed to withstand waves in the weather conditions that they apply. It's considered a near coastal voyage. And being a qualified mastermind and having my certificate still valid, I can assure you that. Freak waves are not known to be. Affecting and sinking ships in relatively confined waters like the Red Sea. It's it is still a sea where it is relatively confined and freak waves are often heard of on the South African coast around the Horn. And. In the Red Sea. I have a big reservation or wherever the story about it being hit by a wave and sang is, is, is is hugely questionable in my personal opinion, yes. So what are the waters of the Red Sea? Sort of like normally I've been to the Red Sea, I don't remember big waves at all, no. So there are local weather patterns that develop like it was on Sunday and Monday, there were weather warnings which were out against going out to sea. Or conducting any activity three to four metres waves and in wind speed. And I can I can describe it to our audience. If you stick your head out of your car and she's going at 70 kilometers per hour, that was what you would have experienced if the boat would have been stationary, not moving 70 kilometer per hour. Winds were what was recorded. That is, that is what. Well, that is stormy seas, isn't it? That is really stormy three to four metres. My question is to the master, if he's around and, and we'll definitely be questioned, why would you go out with 33 people with weather warnings for a diving expedition? You wouldn't be able to dive in that kind of whether it's a strange decision, isn't it? You know, I suppose diving you're under the water, but you know, you don't want to be jumping into, we just don't want to be jumping into four to for three to four metre. Waves, do you? OK, So what actually happens in cases like this? You know, if a big wave hits a boat like this, how long does it take to sink? You know, do people have time to get in a lifeboat, get a life jacket on? Yeah. So here's the thing. There's much more to it. First of all, the the hull of the boat. Cause of wooden hull. Now wooden hull on modern yachts are very very unheard of. Yes, there's a lot of those in Turkey. Turkey is supposed to be the capital of mahogany wood hull. It is considered as still the ancient and the and the. All the way of building boats and they are planks put together with rivets and brass plates and things like that's how wooden hulls are built. And in this case, that is my first question. And and a wooden hull going out in that kind of wave height would definitely cause concern. And that is something that I think has to be looked at And and that being slammed with a wave, not a freak wave, but just regular for, for, for me. The waves would definitely cause stress on on the hull and that probably will only be seen once the the the boat is had a look at. We we send divers down and actually see what, what would have what damage would have had on the on the structure of the boat. And, and yes, it has to be flooding and rapid flooding, which will what, which is what will take the boat down and has to be over the length of the vessel or relatively large portion so that. In a substantial amount of water comes in very quickly for her to go down that that fast. Yeah, they said 7 minutes, which is which is, you know, very, very fast indeed. And there is some suggestion that some people might have been lost because they were asleep in their cabins because it supposedly happened at 5:30 in the morning. Yes. In this type of situation, does the captain just immediately signal for help from the shore and then do the rescue boat start coming? Ohh yes. 7 minutes would be hardly any time for anybody to reach out to the signal. In that case, the best place to head out. It's probably a a life raft that probably is there or or a or a or a rescue boat which automatically comes out and is a float. A boy out a floating ring that is and just jump out into the water because but but when you are on board, you do not. On the hindsight, it's easy to say it's 7 minutes. But when something like this happens in the in the abandoned ship alarms are around you. You don't anticipate, not there not being enough time for you at least to grab a life jacket and to put up your safety gear. You do not, you do not foresee a floating craft going down that fast. Biggest one in 7 minutes, so to say. So it is a it is a very sad and very unusual occurrence. And my, my heart goes out to the families and and the dear ones who are still looking for the missing people. Thank you very much indeed, Captain Sarah Irani. Really important, I think to get those insights. So thank you very much indeed for your time this morning. Thank you very much. On the side note, but happy to put some light onto it. Yeah, thank you. Captain Irani, their managing director of Constellation. Marine services in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Fujairah.