CAIRO: The black box from an Egyptian ferry that sank in the Red Sea leaving some 1,000 people dead was recovered Tuesday, Transport Minister Mohammed Mansour announced. “Two experts, from France and Great Britain, belonging to the International Maritime Organization, located the black box and brought it back to the surface, the minister was quoted as saying by the official MENA news agency. He added that the black box of the Al-Salam Boccaccio 98, which sunk in the Red Sea with more than 1,400 people on board on Feb. 3, would be analyzed in Britain by the United Kingdom Marine Accident Investigation Branch. “It will take around a week to know the causes the accident and determine who was responsible, Mansour told Egyptian public television. The voyage data recorder was located with the help of a robotic submersible after the wreck of the ferry was found on Feb. 16 in the middle of the Red Sea, in 2,600 feet (800 meters) of water. Mansour said the oil ministry lent one of its ships at a cost of $1 million dollars to perform the retrieval, some 55 miles (30 kilometers) off the coast of Safaga, the doomed ship s port of destination. The ferry was sailing from the Saudi port of Duba and carried mostly Egyptian itinerant workers, some of whom were bringing months – if not years – worth of savings back home. International regulations require passenger ships and other ships of 3,000 gross tonnage and upwards to carry data recorders to assist in accident investigations. The devices, which resemble black boxes fitted on aircraft, enable accident investigators to review procedures and instructions in the moments before an incident and help to identify the cause of any accident. Surviving passengers said after the disaster, one of the deadliest maritime tragedies in recent history, that the ship caught fire two hours after leaving Duba. Passengers and their families have criticized the captain for deciding not to return to Duba after the fire broke out and also incriminated the crew for monopolizing the liferafts. Doubts over the safety procedures enforced by the owners as well as the Panamanian register and the Italian classification company have also been raised. Experts have highlighted the double standards applied to maritime safety in the world following the accident, the deadliest since some 1,800 people lost their lives when a ferry sank off the coast of Senegal in 2002. The Al-Salam Boccacio 98, a 36-year-old ship, was modified to increase passenger capacity a few years ago and was deemed unfit to continue to serve on its original European routes. The Egyptian government, which was also criticized over its management of the crisis, has set up an investigation panel to look into the accident. AFP
Sunken ferry's black box recovered
