It would be a vast understatement to say that Al-Salam Company for Marine Transportation has had a checkered safety record. On 22 December 1991, its ferry Salem Express hit a coral reef off the Red Sea port of Safaga and sunk, killing 470 people. On 7 October 2001, the company's Al-Salam 90 ferry collided with a Cypriot freight ship. Fortunately, the ferry ended up stuck to the body of the freight ship for several hours before eventually sinking, which enabled rescue workers to evacuate the passengers. According to investigations, the captain made several incorrect decisions, all of which went against international maritime regulations, and led to the accident taking place. The ferry was carrying 1,180 passengers who had just finished performing their umra, or smaller pilgrimage, in Saudi Arabia. Four of them died, and 88 were injured. In June 2002 , the company's Al-Salam 95 ferry sank into the waters of the Red Sea after a fire broke out in the passengers' luggage room. Carrying 1,017 passengers, 60 cars and 6 lorries fuelled to the full -- in clear violation of maritime law -- the ferry was on traveling from the Saudi Arabian port of Duba to Safaga. Twenty-four passengers perished in the ensuing chaos. The company's most recent mishap took place in October 2005 , when its Al-Salam 95 ferry collided with a Cypriot freight ship south of the Gulf of Suez. One Egyptian woman was killed, and 88 wounded in the accident. Again, there were over a thousand people on board; this time, they were heading to Saudi Arabia to do their umra. The government ended up giving each wounded passenger LE1,000. Families of the dead, meanwhile, were provided with LE30,000 in compensation. As the captains of both the Egyptian ferry and the Cypriot ship exchanged accusations of blame, nobody was ever held accountable for the collision.
