List of sunken liveaboard dive boats in Egypt

Update March 2025: At the time of its sinking, M/Y Scuba Scene was operating under the flag of Dive Pro Liveaboard, not Golden Dolphin Safari World Fleet. This marks the third vessel associated with Dive Pro Liveaboard to sink within the past three years. A new section has been added discussing a potential connection between the spike in incidents and the COVID-19 pandemic.

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In spring 2024, I embarked on my fourth liveaboard diving safari in Egypt’s Red Sea. As always, it was an incredible experience, filled with breathtaking underwater landscapes and marine life. However, during the trip, I learned about a tragic incident that had occurred just before our departure: a liveaboard boat had sunk, leaving one German diver still missing while the rest narrowly escaped with their lives.

On Monday, November 25, 2024, another liveaboard boat sank in the early hours of the morning, which also attracted a lot of media attention (the Tagesschau on German First Television reported). Since then, 11 passengers and crew members have been reported dead or missing. A quick search revealed that this was the fifth liveaboard boat to sink in the Red Sea in 2024. The alarming increase in these incidents raises serious questions about the safety standards of Egyptian liveaboards.

The List

I have decided to compile a list of incidents over the last few years to better understand the reasons for these sinkings and the number of casualties involved. I will continue to update and expand this list to provide a comprehensive overview of all incidents and their causes. My hope is that increased awareness will lead to improved safety measures and further tragedies can be prevented in the future.

Boat Name	Fleet Name	Date of Incident	Location	Reported Cause	Soals On Board	Casualties	References
M/Y Sea Story	Dive Pro Liveaboard	2024-11-25	Near Sataya Reef	Capsized due to high waves	44	6 dead, 5 missing	taucher.net
M/Y Nouran	Red Sea Explorers	2024-11-06	Daedalus Reef	Fire on board	30	None	divemagazine.com
M/Y Seaduction	Seaduction	2024-10-24	Elba Reef, St. John's National Park	Struck a reef during stormy weather	28	None	divemagazine.com
M/Y Exocet	Diving Attitude	2024-06-26	Sataya Reef, near Marsa Alam	Struck coral reef	34	None	divemagazine.com
M/Y Sea Legend	Dive Pro Liveaboard	2024-02-22	3 km off the coast	Fire caused by cable malfunction	31	1 dead (German diver presumed missing)	taucher.net
M/Y Emperor Echo	Emperor Divers Fleet	2023-10-28	Fury Shoals Reef	Blown onto the reef in sudden and intense lightning storm	Unknown	None	thescubanews.com facebook.com
M/Y Hurricane	Tornado Marine Fleet	2023-06-11	Near Elphinstone Reef	Fire on board, suspected electrical short circuit	26	3 dead	taucher.net divemagazine.com aljazeera.com
M/Y New Dream (M/Y Orion)	Mirage Marine Fleet	2023-06-07	About 3hrs from Marsa Alam	Ran onto a reef	Unknown	None	taucher.net (Eng) taucher.net (Ger)
M/Y Carlton Queen	Carlton Fleet	2023-04-24	Abu Nuhas area, near Hurghada	Capsized; exact cause unknown	35	None	taucher.net
M/Y Scuba Scene	Dive Pro Liveaboard	2022-04-19	Near Hurghada	Fire on board shortly after departure	36	None	scubaverse.com taucher.net bild.de
Red Sea Aggressor I	Aggressor Fleet	2019-11-01	Near Marsa Alam	Fire on board	31	1 dead	taucher.net tauchen.de

Be Careful

While the Red Sea remains one of the most popular diving destinations in the world, the increasing number of boat accidents on liveaboards should not be overlooked. The trend is extremely worrying and points to significant safety issues that anyone planning a liveaboard trip in the region should be aware of.

There are three main causes of accidents in recent years: fire on board, capsizing of the boat and collision with a reef. This points to problems with general boat maintenance (especially electronics and smoke detectors) and human error. The casualties, a total of 9 dead and 7 missing in 11 boat accidents between 2019 and 2024, could also have been avoided or at least reduced by better safety measures, such as functioning smoke detectors and rescue equipment, as well as comprehensive safety training.

It is now even more important to prioritize safety, for example by comparing the providers carefully and ensuring that the boats meet appropriate safety standards. As a first safety measure, I would avoid all the fleets listed in the table above unless safety standards have demonstrably improved. I would be particularly wary of the “Dive Pro Liveaboard” fleet, 3 of whose boats sank within 3 years between 2022 and 2024. The underwater wonders of the Red Sea are breathtaking, but no adventure is worth risking your life.

A link to the COVID-19 pandemic

A noticeable portion of the accidents occurred during or shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic. It is conceivable that the severely reduced travel activity at the time, especially the sharp decline in diving tourism between 2020 and 2022, may have had indirect effects on the safety of liveaboard vessels.

The loss of income may have led to postponed or limited maintenance efforts. Boats that remained idle at anchor for extended periods might have been returned to service without thorough technical inspection once tourism resumed.

While it is impossible to determine with certainty to what extent the pandemic played a role, the clustering of incidents in the years that followed raises questions about whether financial strain, staffing shortages, or a lack of routine in operating safety systems may have been contributing factors.