“Ships that have failed to pass the safety test were confined to ports. This has caused confusion in naval travel between the three countries,” an official at the Jeddah Islamic Port familiar with the case told Arab News on Monday.

Though the specific number of ships that have been taken out of service is unknown, the source said “a number” of the 20 vessels providing service between three ports in Egypt and the west coast of Saudi Arabia have been suspended while “three of the four” vessels traveling between Port of Sudan and Suwakin to Jeddah have been taken out of service.

Despite the interruption of service, the port official, as well as a number of travel agents, lauded the drive to make this mode of travel safer. The port official said the ships were confined to ports after surprise inspections.

On Feb. 3, 2006, the Salam Boccaccio 98, a ro-ro passenger ferry that was providing service between Duba, Saudi Arabia and Safaga, Egypt, sank with over 1,400 passengers and crew on board.  Only 388 people were pulled from the water alive. Investigations into the incident revealed that the Italian ferry was a 29-year-old hand-me-down vessel when it was sold to El Salam Maritime in 1999, after which the ship was modified to add extra levels that made the ship dangerously top heavy.

It is believed that the vessel tipped in choppy waters as a result of the modifications. It is not known when service will resume for these vessels.

Yusri Zakariah Omar, director of traffic in Al-Fouzan Naval Company, which is an agent for a number of ships operating in the Red Sea, said the temporary halt of ships has affected the movement of passengers between Jeddah and Suez by between 40 and 60 percent.

Zakariah estimated the financial losses as a result of the pulling out of a number of ships to reach more than $500,000 a week. He also said ticket prices would also go up.