FERRY DISASTER: RIPPLES HITTING CAIRO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CAIRO 000798 SIPDIS NEA FOR ELA EB FOR TRA E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/09/2015 TAGS: PREL ECON EWWT MARR EG SUBJECT: FERRY DISASTER: RIPPLES HITTING CAIRO REF: CAIRO 689 Classified By: Ambassador Ricciardone for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) The emerging picture of negligence on the part of the "Al Salam 98" crew and ownership, coupled with a GOE response perceived as ineffective, has caused tempers to flare among victims' families. Opposition politicians and press are casting the tragedy as an indicator of GOE corruption and carelessness, and are seeking to draw links between the ship's owner and the NDP ruling elite. The focus on transport safety could help new, reformist Transport Minister Mohamed Mansour enact needed changes in the sector, but public focus on corruption's potential role in the tragedy could cause the GOE discomfort. End summary. -------------- Anger, Questions Build -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Six days on from the sinking of the "Al Salam 98", with little hope of finding any remaining survivors, Egyptians are dissecting the political and corporate environments that led to the disaster. Current casualty estimates put the number of dead at between 900 and 1,000. Victims' families, many of whom are still waiting in the port of Safaga for news, vented some of their anger on the offices of the ship's owner, ransacking the building and destroying its contents. Heavy-handed police reaction to the throngs of angry family members, coupled with accusations of official negligence in oversight, has elicited strong condemnations of President Mubarak and the Ministries of Interior and Transport from victims' families. Commentators and the political opposition have also been critical of the GOE. Press reports indicate the company which operated the ferry, Al Salam Maritime, has ceased trading. Al Salam was Egypt's largest maritime company and its owner, Mamdouh Ismail, a member of the Shura Council with close ties to the NDP elite. ¶3. (SBU) Many here are questioning Ismail's political ties, asking whether they afforded the company "immunity" in its operations. The ship's owners, and some GOE officials, have sought to distance themselves from responsibility for the tragedy, issuing statements highlighting the ship's Panamanian registry and recent safety checks. Ismail noted the ship passed safety checks at Duba port in KSA one day prior to departure, as well as a recent inspection by the Italian classification society RINA. Regardless of these assurances, many editorialists are asking how a 36-year old ship deemed unfit for use in European waters was still plying the Red Sea. -------------- GOE's Response -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Aside from the convening of an inquiry body by the People's Assembly, the structure of the official investigation has not been publicly announced. President Mubarak chaired a cabinet meeting on February 7 to discuss the tragedy. In the face of strong and growing public criticism of the GOE's in response to the tragedy, Presidential Spokesman Suleiman Awad announced that the GOE had not been informed of the ferry's sinking for nearly six hours after it went down. Critics are also attacking the GOE's apparent lack of oversight of the transport sector, pointing to a long series of transport-related tragedies. Awad quoted Mubarak as saying that "those who are responsible will not escape without punishment," adding that "no one in Egypt is above the law or questioning." Some commentators opine that the President's statements are in response to accusations of personal ties between the Presidency and the shipping company's owner, Mamdouh Ismail. President Mubarak ordered compensation equivalent to USD $5,200 be paid to the families of the deceased while survivors will receive USD $2,600. -------------- Probable Cause -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Analysts point to the combined effects of a firefighting operation, weather conditions, and superstructure modifications as having led to the sinking. The use of water hoses to extinguish a vehicle fire likely led to an accumulation of water on the vehicle parking deck, which, combined with rough seas and high winds, could have capsized the vessel. Survivors reported that drainage pumps were not operational. Some reports have also commented that superstructure modifications to the aging, shallow-drafted vessel, i.e. the addition of two passenger decks, reduced its stability and made it more susceptible to capsizing. Survivor accounts describe the captain and crew as downplaying the fire, which reportedly started when the vessel was only 20 miles from it departure point, and failing to implement standard safety practices such as the distribution of life vests and instructing passengers on the use of life boats. It remains unclear as to why the crew deployed none of the ship's 10 lifeboats, which can hold up to 100 persons each, and only a few of the 25-passenger life rafts. The captain's whereabouts are still unknown. ¶6. (U) Citing safety concerns, Saudi authorities on February 7 reportedly refused passenger embarkation at Duba port for a sister ship of the "Al Salam 98", the "Al Salam 94." Press reports indicate that an investigative team, formed by the Saudi General Organization for Ports, found that the ship did not comply with safety standards and was thus ordered to depart Saudi Arabia without passengers. A spokesman for the Al Salam company stated that it was a company decision to recall the ferry. -------------- Distress Calls? -------------- ¶7. (U) Inquiries continue into the ship captain Sayed Omar's and Al Salam Maritime's actions in response to the crisis. Having made the decision to continue sailing toward Egypt after the fire's outbreak, it remains unclear as to whether Omar, or perhaps ship owner Ismail, decided not to release a distress call. Salah Joma'a, captain of a sister ferry the "St. Catherine" that was sailing from Safaga to Duba, said he was instructed by Ismail as he left port at around 0245 hrs to contact the "Al Salam 98" via radio to check on its condition. Unable to connect with the ship via radio or satellite, Joma'a finally reached a member of the crew at 0657 hrs who informed him, from his lifeboat, that the ship had gone down. Although only 25 miles from the disaster site, Joma'a said he was unable to turn back given the weather, and, with the concurrence of Ismail, continued on to Duba port. -------------- Opposition, Others Respond -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Some opposition political parties and human rights groups are seeking to highlight the ferry disaster as indicative of government negligence and corruption. The Wafd party is using its editorial pages to condemn the government's negligence in the transportation section overall, and published a cartoon depicting the ferry sinking in a sea of "negligence, bribery, carelessness, corruption, and incompetence." A human rights group, the Land Center for Human Rights, is calling on Egyptians to petition the Prosecutor General to open an investigation into the Ministry of Transport and the ship's owner. Its statement, which reflects the viewpoint of many claiming government culpability in the disaster, notes that the frequency of transport-related tragedies in Egypt reveals "the absence of the government's role in care, observation, supervision and inspection" of transport systems, thereby leaving "workers and the poor vulnerable and exposed" to negligence and corruption. Citing a lack of GOE support, the Ghad party organized a "relief caravan" that traveled to Safaga the day after the tragedy to distribute food and supplies to families awaiting news of their loved ones. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶9. (C) While GOE actions to date have yet to quell the anger of the victim's families or reduce the perceived culpability of the GOE in yet another transport-related tragedy, we expect the Government to ride out the controversy. New, reformist Transport Minister Mohamed Mansour faces a tough task in reorganizing the Ministry's safety oversight responsibilities, but the tragedy may allow him to impose reform on entrenched interests. Ismail's membership in the Shura Council and close ties to Cabinet Chief Zakaria Azmi mean that any linking of corrupt practices to the tragedy could have a lasting effect effect on the ruling party. RICCIARDONE