Six Russians dead, 39 tourists rescued after submarine sinks in Red Sea off Egypt

By Mohamed Ezz and Nayera Abdallah

CAIRO (Reuters) -Six Russians died on Thursday and 39 foreign tourists were rescued when a viewing submarine sank off the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada, the local governor's office said on Facebook, adding that no passengers or crew were still missing.

The Red Sea Governorate said the submarine, named "Sindbad", had 50 people onboard: 45 tourists of different nationalities from Russia, India, Norway, and Sweden, and five Egyptian crew members.

"Most of those on board were rescued and taken to their hotels and hospitals in Hurghada," the Russian consulate in Hurghada said.

The submarine was equipped with large portholes to let passengers see the Red Sea's spectacular corals and marine life, and was able to descend to a depth of 25 metres, according to the company's website.

The pleasure craft was a far cry from the extreme adventure submersible that imploded thousands of metres below the Atlantic near the sunken Titanic in June 2023.

The Red Sea is a major hub for Egypt's crucial tourism industry, a pillar of the economy, in which Russian tourists play an increasing part. Egypt also attracts tourists with its great pyramids of Giza and cruises on the Nile in Luxor and Aswan.

Successive Egyptian governments have waged successful crackdowns on Islamist militant groups who hurt the tourism industry with attacks on foreigners in the past.

Egyptian authorities are conducting investigations with crew members to determine the causes of the submarine sinking, the local governorate cited Red Sea Province Governor Amr Hanafy as saying.

The submarine, which is owned by an Egyptian, was licensed and so was the crew captain, he said.

There have been several recent incidents of tourist boats capsizing. Last June, a boat sank after suffering severe damage from high waves, though no casualties were reported.

And in November, a tourist boat capsized while carrying 31 tourists and 13 crew on a multi-day diving trip. Local media reported that at least 11 people had died in the incident, which was also blamed on high waves.

At the time, the governor of the Red Sea province said the boat, the Sea Story, had passed a safety inspection eight months earlier.

Last month, a tourist boat capsized while en route to Hurghada after undergoing maintenance.

The Tourism Ministry and the Chamber of Diving did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

A United Nations report ranked Egypt first in Africa for tourism revenues in 2024 at $14.1 billion, more than twice its earnings in Suez Canal revenues, highlighting tourism's vital role in sustaining the hard-pressed economy.

(Reporting by Mohamed Yosry and Mohamed Ezz in Cairo, and Ahmed Elimam in Dubai; Additional reporting by Menna Alaa El-Din; Writing by Jana Choukeir, Nayera Abdallah and Michael Georgy; Editing by Aidan Lewis, Kevin Liffey and Ros Russell)