# Seventeen crew are missing after a cargoship sank off the Red Sea



## non descript (Nov 18, 2005)

Re-printed courtesy of Tradewinds Newspaper

Seventeen crew are missing after a cargoship sank off the Red Sea coast of Egypt on Monday. 

The vessel, named as Ibn Battuta or Ibn al-Battuta, had just left port when it went down 35 miles from Safaga, port officials said. 

Nine people were rescued as two other vessels and helicopters joined in a search. 

Missing crew are said to be Indian, Sudanese and Pakistani nationals. 

The vessel was carrying a shipment of silicon and had loaded at Abu Dhunaima, near Safaga, on its way to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 

The ship could be the 7,400-dwt multipurpose Ibn Batouta (built 1973), owned by Al Rashid Shipping of the UAE, but the company could not be contacted on Monday. 

_By Gary Dixon in London 
Published: 13:59 GMT, 09 Mar 2009 _


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## sidsal (Nov 13, 2007)

Tonga.
Mention of Safaja brings back memories. In ww2 when the Germans were 60 miles from Alex it was proposed to develop Safaja which then was a one berth phosphate port. They sent a dredger down from Suez which the Germans promplty sank, and a garrison was sent there. The Royal Engineers built a road to Luxor on the Nile (This road now takes tourists to Luxor for the day from the many cruise ships that call).
Eventually after Alamein, Safaja was put on the back burner but a garrison of about 30 soldiers was kept there. I was on the Fort Camosun which had loaded a cargo of munitions at Baltimore for Port Said and after discharge we had the unpleasant task of cleaning out the double botom tanks and cement washing them - also the deep tanks. They were filled with fresh water and a fire service pump put aboard and we went to Safaja. There was a ship alongside so we anchored for a week and had a great time wandering among the reefs in the lifeboat and seeing the rich sea life. We then went alongside and took days and days pumping out the fresh water for the garrison. There was a railway bring down the phoshate from the hills and we used to cadge a lift on the loco which was driven by an Arab in flowing robes. From there we went to Durban where we loaded cement for Colombo.


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## non descript (Nov 18, 2005)

*Fort Camosun*

Every so often I find a post that reminds me of my elders and betters, and it is a salutatory and humbling note to find a Member who sailed on a ship of WW2 that I happened to make a very minor and unimportant quiz about; *Sidsal* I raise my cap to you Sir. Thank you for your contributions of 1945 and 2009 (Thumb)
Kind regards
Mark


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