More Details of the Sinking of MY Sea Legend

As mentioned in Flotsam & Jetsam Undercurrent March, the Red Sea liveaboard MY Sea Legend sank after a fire on February 22 near the town of El Quseir.

The vessel became engulfed in flames around 4:00 a.m. after a fire started, apparently in the galley.

Sea Legend was fully occupied with 17 passengers, 12 crew members, and two dive guides. They abandoned ship within 10 minutes after being awakened.

In the prevailing darkness and rough seas, all but one person were evacuated by the liveaboard's inflatables, despite one of the boats having no working motor and needing towing by the other.

Only the functioning inflatable made it close to shore, leaving its passengers to swim the last 500 yards. The other was left to drift before it was recovered with its passengers by the Egyptian Navy. Those who swam ashore suffered cuts and abrasions crossing the coral in shallow water at first light.

Several passengers claimed the fire alarms malfunctioned, smoke detectors failed to work, fire extinguishers were no longer functioning, and there were no proper emergency protocols - a disturbing image of the vessel's preparedness for an emergency.

As is often the case in Egypt, the survivors were coerced into signing documents written in Arabic without any translation. The chance of being reimbursed through legal action in Egypt is negligible. (Undercurrent July 2023)

Tragically, one German woman guest remains unaccounted for. The MY Sea Legend was the vessel that replaced MY Scuba Scene after that liveaboard burned and sank two years previously.

- John Bantin