Egyptian liveaboard operators have called for a grace period before new regulations concerning crew qualifications are enforced.
The request comes after a number of liveaboards were cancelled or held in port due to a clampdown by authorities in the second half of December following in the wake of the Sea Story sinking, in which 11 people lost their lives.
The sticking point is a requirement in existing regulations that stipulates that of the two engineers required to be present on every liveaboard, at least one must hold an advanced engineering license – and there is a huge shortfall in the number of engineers who have completed the 20 day course.
Egyptian newspaper Ahram Online reports that of the 1200 personnel required to support more than 200 liveaboards and 2,000 other dive and snorkel boats, only 88 crewmen currently hold the necessary qualification.
As a result, some of these individuals have begun charging extortionate prices for their services – unconfirmed reports suggest as much as a year’s salary for a single voyage – knowing that liveaboard trips will have to be cancelled if their demands are not met.
The advanced engineer’s course is a 20-day programme and certification takes approximately six weeks. While this in itself is not an insurmountable obstacle – albeit with a time delay – Ahram Online reports that the training programme has not been offered by the Egyptian authorities since 2023.
This does not mean that Egyptian boat crews are staffed by untrained engineers. Most have years of practical experience behind them, they just haven’t been through the official programme in order to receive the advanced certification.
While little information has been forthcoming as to the overall effects of the new regulatory enforcement, a quick search of liveaboard booking agents reveals a shortfall in available trips for January.
The overall effect may be ameliorated somewhat by the timing of the clampdown, as January and February is low season for Egyptian dive tourism and therefore the time when boats are sent to drydock, if necessary.
Nevertheless, there have been a number of trip cancellations, and divers already in-country at the time the new enforcement order came into effect have reported being held in port or disembarked and put on hastily arranged dayboats.
Scuba diving is a huge part of Egypt’s tourist economy and it has weathered many challenges over the years, from terrorist bombings to shark attacks that made international headlines, the 2011 revolution and the major losses suffered during the Covid pandemic.
With a succession of widely reported liveaboard disasters in which at least fifteen lives have been lost in just the last two years – and which have now received the attention of international maritime safety agencies – the spotlight will be firmly on the Egyptian authorities to ensure that observable changes are made to liveaboard safety in the immediate future.
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