Red Sea dive boat survivors accuse authorities of cover-up

Survivors of a fatal dive boat that sank in the Red Sea say they were pressured to sign official witness statements in Arabic. They couldn’t understand and the boat company staff translated it into English.

They said they also tried to get the man to sign a statement saying he had not accused anyone of “criminal activity.”

Eleven survivors interviewed by the BBC accused Egyptian authorities of trying to cover up the incident, which investigators said would place a huge burden on them.

The Sea Story was carrying 46 passengers when it sank in the early morning of November 25 last year. Four bodies were recovered, and seven people, including two British divers, are still missing.

Neither the Egyptian government nor the Hurghada-based boat operator, Dive Pro Liveaboard, responded to our inquiries.

On Tuesday The BBC published several accusations of safety failures from survivors. Board the ship. A prominent oceanographer who analyzed meteorological data also said it was not plausible that huge waves had hit the ship.

Within hours of being brought ashore, the survivors said they were “interrogated”. Some even from people I heard were judges from their hospital beds.

Those who did not require hospital treatment were interviewed at nearby resorts, and other survivors reported feeling the same pressure.

Sarah Martin, an NHS doctor in Lancashire, said: “We were told we couldn’t leave the room until everyone’s statements had been completed.”

Judges have joined an Egyptian investigation into the cause of the sinking, but survivors have said they do not know exactly who masterminded the sinking.

Survivors said it was a clear conflict of interest that an employee of the company that owns Sea Story translated the initial statement into Arabic.

Spanish diver Hisora ​​González said the man did not initially introduce himself as an employee. “He just said, ‘You need to tell me what happened and then sign this piece of paper.’”

Several people we spoke to later told us that the man worked for Dive Pro Liveaboard.

Survivors say their statements were passed on to investigators after the man translated them, something that shocked Lisa Wolff. “The average judge cannot accept a translation from someone fully involved in the process.”

One survivor, a Norwegian police detective, said he had “no clue” what the four pages of Arabic handed to him actually said. “They could have written anything. I don’t know what I signed,” Frøydis Adamson explained. She said she wrote under her signature that she couldn’t read the document.

“We were so shocked and wanted to go home,” Hissora said.

Representatives of the boat operator, Dive Pro Liveaboard, repeatedly forced survivors to sign waivers. They would then have agreed to the statement, “I am not accusing anyone of any criminal activity.”

Justin Hodges, an American diver who was also rescued, said that while giving a witness statement, he was handed a ‘responsibility disclosure document’ written in English.

He said he thought the person he was talking to was a ‘government official’, but then he realized that he worked for the company.

“He snuck in with the authorities.” Justin said. “The fact that he tried to absolve us of responsibility at that moment was crazy to me.”

At least some of the people we interviewed did not sign the document.

Everyone we spoke to said they were not allowed to keep copies of their statements, but the BBC heard some people translated the documents on their mobile phones. Many of them said that key, damning details they communicated verbally were left out of the paperwork.

“Everything about the condition of the life raft and safety issues on the boat was lost,” says Lisa.

Sara and Hisora ​​also reported the same experience. “They put in whatever they wanted,” Hissora says.

Survivors also said authorities seemed determined from the start to blame giant waves for the tragedy.

This is despite many of those rescued saying the waves were too big to stop them from swimming. A prominent oceanographer told the BBC that contemporary weather data from the nearest airport strongly supported the survivors’ recollections.

Hisora ​​said he eventually asked if he could see a copy of the investigators’ final report, but was told he didn’t need to. “(It’s as if) they already knew that the cause was waves,” she says.

When she asked again, Hisora ​​said she was told, “The only person responsible for this is the sea.” She believes authorities already made their decision before the investigation even began.

Hisora’s concerns are the same as for Sarah. The judges said the survivors were “very keen” not to hold anyone responsible for the accident.

Many survivors said they were told that if they wanted to hold someone accountable, they would have to name the individuals accused and the specific crimes.

“Just because I can’t name the person and the crime doesn’t mean someone isn’t responsible,” Sarah says.

Dive Pro Liveaboard’s final attempt to get survivors to sign waivers came as one group was about to leave for Cairo, Justin says.

Having lost his passport at sea, he said he was told by a company representative that the documents presented to them were customs documents to get through checkpoints.

“But eventually I got to the bottom and the last sentence is the same disclaimer question” – repeating what he said he was asked to sign when giving his witness statement.

Justin said he went to warn others and when he returned to the man he believed was trying to trick him, the documents “magically disappeared” and were replaced by more official documents.

“My blood was boiling,” he said.

The BBC has never seen the waiver document or a copy of it.

Among those missing are two Britons, Jenny Cawson and Tarig Sinada, from Devon.

“They were the most kind, caring and generous people,” said Andy Williamson, a friend of the couple.

He said their family continued to receive partial and inaccurate news from the Egyptian government.

For example, after the disaster, they say they were told that the boat had never been found, even though they saw on TV survivors from the wreck being brought ashore. We are calling for a public inquiry.

“The Egyptian authorities seem to be doing their best to cover up this issue,” said Andy. “They want to protect the tourism industry.”

In March, a fire broke out on another Dive Pro Liveaboard boat, the Sea Legend, killing a German tourist.

Last year, independent consulting firm Maritime Survey International produced a report on the safety of dive boats in the Red Sea. An inspection of eight vessels, which did not include vessels operated by Dive Pro Liveaboard, found they did not have a “planned maintenance system, safety management system or stability book” – important documents to prevent capsizing.

It also found that “design standards were poor, with all ships lacking watertight bulkheads, doors and hatches.”

The report concluded that not a single vessel was safe and that Egypt’s dive boat industry “trades largely unregulated.”

On January 7, 15 survivors, including those we interviewed, emailed the Egyptian Chamber of Diving and Water Sports (CDWS), which regulates all diving activities and is linked to the Ministry of Tourism.

They relayed safety concerns and questioned why the Dive Pro Liveaboard could still operate. CDWS’ executive director responded on January 9, saying the investigation into the incident was ongoing and the incident was being taken “very seriously.”

He added that “appropriate action” would be taken “for any negligence that resulted in a risk to people’s safety”.