The Red Sea scuba diving liveaboard Scuba Scene has been destroyed in a fire that broke out in its engine room shortly after the boat left Hurghada.
All divers and crew members were safely evacuated, with survivors describing the crew’s response to the incident as ‘fantastic’.
The 43m-long steel-hulled Scuba Scene was launched in 2011 and marketed as a liveaboard with the ‘most rigorous’ safety standards in the Red Sea by its operators, renowned marine biologist and shark expert, Elke Bojanoski, and technical dive instructor Ahmel Fadel.
According to some of the passengers, the fire began while they were assembled for a safety drill on the morning of 19 April.
While the crew have been praised by their actions in evacuating the vessel, the divers have also reported that none of the smoke detectors on board appeared to be working – the alarm was raised by a member of the crew ringing a hand-held bell.
Most of the divers were able to reach the stern of the boat, where they were evacuated quickly and safely onto Scuba Scene’s two tenders. However, the speed of the fire was so rapid that some were forced to jump from the front of the boat before being picked up.
It has been reported that Scuba Scene eventually sank to a depth of approximately 45m.
This article was updated in July 2022 to reflect new information about what happened during the fire alarm and evacuation.
