Carlton Queen Capsizes in the Red Sea

We told the story of the harrowing escape and heroism when the liveaboard Carlton Queen capsized in Egypt in a special report in late May (https://tinyurl.com/ypt332n3). Once the passengers had escaped from the stricken vessel, their troubles were not over. Christian Hanson, one of the passengers, continues his story:

"I'm dragged into the life raft by my trousers. I was surprised to see the captain was already on board. One of the lady guests was in complete shock, so I had to deal with comforting her and bringing her around. I heard that the second life raft had flipped over and drifted off into the open sea.

"The Carlton Queen's captain told us not to use the flares. We were in the middle of the busy shipping lane to Suez, and I could see a cargo container ship barreling down on us. Some of the passengers onboard were yacht people and, following their training, took charge.

"They took the daylight flares out and fired them, but just a little fizz and we knew they were duds, old and unusable. There were two daylight parachute flares, and neither would deploy. The handheld flares fortunately worked, and the container ship signaled a change of direction. Otherwise, we could have been in even more trouble.

"By now, the life raft was filling up fast. People left on the hulk of the Carlton Queen began organizing their rescue into the life raft, including organizing the crew who couldn't swim and were helplessly sitting and praying.

"There were 37 in a life raft designed for 20. The captain failed to take charge, failed to instruct the dive tender operators or have the other life-raft fetched and secured, all standard procedures for normal boat incidents.

"Fortunately, another liveaboard, the VIP Shrouk, was crossing to Sha'ab Abu Nuhas. They hove to and sent their dive tenders out to evacuate the life-raft. The crew gave us food, water, dry clothes, and bathrobes. It took them about 30 minutes to evacuate everyone clinging to the stricken liveaboard and in the water.

"David and Christian arrived aboard the VIP Shrouk. David had deep wounds to his head, side, and legs. Fernando was still missing. The captain of the VIP Shrouk started suturing wounds and giving medical attention to the minor cuts on everyone else. We wondered whether Fernando made it, then we heard a horn, and the dive tender set off. Fernando had escaped.

"The captain was entrusted with our passports in case of emergency but didn't take them when he abandoned ship. He was one of the first to leave the ship with his own life raft.

"We guests lost everything, and it was a challenge to leave Egypt without any money or passport. It is also a challenge to get your insurance to pay, since we were under the impression it sounded a lot like a boat insurance claim rather than a travel insurance claim.

"That's when we found out Carlton Queen's operator was only insured for 50,000 Egyptian Pounds, or about $1,500 per person. They transferred us to a 3-star Egyptian hotel, with bugs in the beds and inedible food. Without money, cards, phone, or passports, we had some serious issues.

"The boat company tried to pressure us into saying it wasn't the captain's fault and that it was a freak wave. But the sea was calm, with no wind and unusually low swells, so we declined. We gave evidence to the prosecutors and testimony to the authorities. It took five more days to arrange the necessary paperwork with the authorities, the consulate, and the police before we could leave Egypt.

"We were initially offered another safari with the company as compensation. The CEO said he'd reimburse all the fees and pay for our lost dive gear and electronics, but it was just a charade to run the time out until we left.

"We left with nothing. They paid the hotel bill and gave us 2,000 Egyptian pounds spending money ($60), but wisely we didn't, because shortly afterward they stranded us at the Immigration office with no way to pay the visa processing fees, but we were able to self-rescue by clubbing together paying the fees. We just wanted to get home. The one person with a working phone used his Uber account to order multiple taxis once we arrived safely in the UK."