Magda El-Ghitany reports from Safaga on the murky investigation into the sinking of the ferry boat in which almost 1000 Egyptians lost their lives It is almost a week since Al-Salam 98 sank beneath the waters of the Red Sea. The ferry was carrying 1,414 passengers, more than a thousand of whom perished in the disaster. The official investigation into the causes of the sinking of the 35-year-old boat has yet to make its finding public, leading to a spate of speculation and rumour. According to early official statements the catastrophe began soon after the ferry had left the Saudi port of Dubba on its way to Safaga when a fire broke out on one of the ferry's lower decks. The flames soon spread, and as crew members used water to extinguish the flames the roll-on roll-off ferry, built to a notoriously unstable design, quickly lost balance. In the tilting boat passengers were unable to reach many of the lifeboats and did not know how to use the ones they could reach. Officials were quick to stress that the ferry had passed all the required safety inspections and fully complied with international safety requirements. They insist there can be no allocation of blame before the investigation is complete. Yet as the official investigation continues unanswered questions surrounding the disaster have increased, not least the role of Salah Gomaa, captain of Al-Salam's sister ship the Saint Catherine, who was reportedly told by the company's owner that he should not stop to help the stricken ferry, though Saint Catherine was in the vicinity, but instead continue to his destination. Both boats are the property of the Al-Salam Transport Company, owned by Mamdouh Ismail, a member of the Shura Council. Gomaa told Al-Ahram Weekly that the decision not to go to the aid of the stricken vessel was entirely his. "I already had 1,800 passengers on board and the weather conditions would not have allowed me to change course," he said. Gomaa refused to apportion any blame on the boats' owners, insisting that "the captain is the only decision-maker on board and is ultimately responsible for anything that happens to his ferry." According to international marine arbitrator and Red Sea expert Wessam Hafez, who is preparing his own report on the disaster, "all the authorities responsible for allowing the ferry to set sail must carry responsibility." The fire, he said, appears to have been caused by sea water entering the boat through a hole and then sparking an electrical fire. To make matters worse carbon dioxide fire extinguishers were not available and the crew had to use water to extinguish the flames which disturbed the boat's balance. There were no water pumps to get the water out, and the ferry's equipment, which would automatically have sent distress signals to surrounding ports and boats, appear not to have been working. "The absence of a working distress signal system is a grave violation of maritime law by the company boat's owner," he said. While it was the company's responsibility to ensure the boat was equipped with a warning system, it was the responsibility of the Egyptian and Saudi Arabian maritime inspection offices to check that the vessel was seaworthy before its departure from port. "It was their job to prevent the ferry from going anywhere, and they failed," said Hafez, who added that the company owner may well have had "his own ways of encouraging officials in the two offices to turn a blind eye to the ferry's defects". That the rescue operation began "four hours after the authorities had been informed of the disaster", says Hafez, led to unnecessary loss of life. "If they had started the minute they knew about it and used planes to reach the scene of the tragedy the cost in human lives would have been reduced." Hafez also criticises the Safaga maritime station, responsible for monitoring the boat's passage. The problem, he says, is that the station does not employ "marine officers and the staff do not have sufficient experience to act in critical situations". Hafez also notes that ferries like Al-Salam 98 -- including Salem Express and Al-Salam 95, both sunken ships belonging to the same company -- are bought at knockdown prices in Europe, where they are no longer licensed to carry passengers and can only carry livestock. "Ismail, as the owner of the boats, should be brought to justice," says Hafez. "If his company had done this anywhere else he would already be in prison." It is essential, believes Hafez, that the government punish all the involved parties. "There are many ferries similar to Al-Salam 98 that are still sailing. Do we have to wait till they all sink before anything is done?" he asked. President Hosni Mubarak, however, has assured the public that those responsible for the disaster will not escape punishment. "No one is above the law," he was quoted as saying by Presidential Spokesman Suleiman Awad. That Ismail, as a member of the Shura Council, enjoys diplomatic immunity has caused uproar among relatives of the victims. "Al-Salam 98, and the two ferries that sank before it, all belonged to Al-Salam. Will the next ferry to capsize also be an Al-Salam boat?" asked one outraged relative. On Sunday MPs will submit demands for a full and comprehensive investigation into the disaster though one senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, voiced his fears that "the ongoing investigations will either end up in attributing the whole disaster to fate or else find a scapegoat while those really responsible go free." Yesterday, in his daily Al-Akhbar column, prominent writer Ahmed Ragab sarcastically wrote that the sinking of the ferry is "a blunt indication of the strength of corruption, the pervasiveness of which has now gotten completely beyond government control".
