Reporters reveal alarming safety deficiencies on Egypt's tourist boats

The million-dollar liveaboard dive boat business in Egypt has widespread safety problems that endanger health and lives of tens of thousands of tourists every year. This is reported by the German magazine stern and broadcaster RTL, citing their own investigations and international experts on ship safety. 

A research team sent undercover reporters to a total of 17 ships from various operators in three major Egyptian ports to assess their safety. International experts reviewed and confirmed the reporters' findings. 

According to this research, all of the ships had safety deficiencies, most of them serious or very serious.

For example, almost all vessels carried unsuitable life jackets and inadequate life rafts. Many lower decks lacked bulkheads or had improper ones. Some ships were missing navigation and communication equipment. In addition, emergency exits were difficult to access – if they existed at all.

In one case, a crew member was smoking in the engine room while the diesel engine was running, in an environment where highly flammable gases and liquids can form.  

"Unfortunately, the results match our experience that a great many liveaboard ships in Egypt are life-threatening", said marine engineer Mick Uberti, certifier at the marine consultancy Maritime Survey International. He reviewed the findings of the research conducted by stern and RTL. 

Over the past two years, his company has inspected liveaboard boats in Egypt and reached a similar conclusion. All eight ships examined at the time were "in poor condition", says Uberti.

The British Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) also concluded in an investigation report that dive safari ships in Egypt were "poorly constructed". Several Egyptian authorities, who claim to regularly check the safety of these ships, left questions from stern and RTL about the inadequate safety standards unanswered.

Cause for the reporters' investigation is a series of ship accidents on the Red Sea – one of the most popular destinations for European tourists, – that is unprecedented worldwide. Nowhere else have so many dive safari boats run aground, capsized, or burned in the past three years.

In November 2024, for example, the luxury yacht 'Sea Story' sank, killing eleven vacationers and crew members. Among the fatalities were three Germans, two Britons, two Poles, one Slovak, and three Egyptians. The case made headlines around the world for days.