The full extent of tragedy that overtook the Egyptian ferry “Al-Salam Boccaccio 98” on its voyage from Duba in the Kingdom to the Egyptian port of Safaga in the early hours of Friday morning is not yet clear. It is however sadly certain that the ship, which was carrying over 1,300 passengers and crew, has sunk with considerable loss of life. Because this was a convenient scheduled overnight service, many of the passengers will have been asleep in their cabins which disaster struck.

Our heart-felt sympathies must be extended to the family and friends of all who were sailing on the ferry, at this time of agonized waiting for news of their loved ones. There were reportedly at least a hundred survivors recovered from lifeboats but rescuers have talked of the horrific scene of dozens of bodies floating in the sea.

Almost immediately questions were being asked about the seaworthiness of this 35-year-old vessel. However, an official from an Italian marine inspection agency was reported as saying that it had been inspected and assessed as fully compliant with all international safety requirements only four months ago.

This being the case, the attention of the authorities will undoubtedly turn to the roll-on, roll-off (ro-ro) design of the vessel, which has in the past been responsible for other disasters, most recently the loss of the Baltic ferry “Estonia” in 1994 in which 852 people perished. In the view of some naval architects, there is an inherent weakness in the design of a vessel whose stern and bow can be opened to allow vehicles to move on and off it. Added to this possibility is the danger that in stormy seas, large vehicles could move if not held down securely. Such movement destabilizes a vessel and can cause it to founder.

First evidence is that, like the “Estonia” sinking, the “ Al-Salam Boccaccio 98” went down very quickly. Both ships had been traveling through stormy seas. It appears that the Egyptian ship yesterday did not send out a general SOS and so alert Saudi and Egyptian coast guard to its difficulties. This suggests that whatever misfortune befell the vessel came upon it very quickly.

Once the massive rescue operation of both the living and the dead is over, there will be time enough for the authorities to make a full and proper investigation into what caused the loss of this vessel.

Given that all of “Al-Salam 98 Boccaccio” safety certification was indeed in order, ro-ro operators around the world will be looking anxiously to the investigation’s conclusions as to its loss. There seems little doubt that these types of ferries do pose extra operating challenges in terms of safety and security. Even so, tens of thousands of people and vehicles are carried on them every day of scheduled services around the world and tragedies such as Friday’s are mercifully rare.

Nevertheless today will be very long and full of anxiety for hundreds of families in both Egypt and Saudi Arabia and our thoughts should be with them.