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)

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Summary
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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.

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Anger, Questions Build
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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.

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GOE's Response
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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.

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Probable Cause
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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.

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Distress Calls?
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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.

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Opposition, Others Respond
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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.

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Comment
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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