Before You Book the Red Sea, Read SB1

I’ve done the Red Sea five times. It’s still the best diving I do — the clarity, the wrecks-and-reefs combo, the sea life. I’m 100% going back. None of what follows changes that.

What it changes is how I book.

In February 2025, the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch published Safety Bulletin SB1/2025 — two pages, signed by Chief Inspector Andrew Moll — on Egyptian liveaboards in the Red Sea. The numbers, straight out of the PDF: 16 Red Sea liveaboards lost in the last five years. Seven of those in the last 21 months. Three of the seven killed people, including UK nationals.

The bulletin names three: Carlton Queen (capsized April 2023 near Hurghada, all 33 rescued), Hurricane (fire near Elphinstone, June 2023, three UK passengers presumed dead), and Sea Story (capsized south of Port Ghalib in November 2024, 45 on board, four bodies recovered, seven still missing — Egypt formally declared them dead on 19 May 2025).

A month after MAIB, BSAC reprinted the recommendation and added their own. Between the two documents, there’s an actual checklist. An actual list of things to ask for before you wire the deposit and after you walk up the gangway.

What MAIB says

Two recommendations, both pointed at the consumer — because MAIB has no jurisdiction over Egyptian-flagged vessels in Egyptian waters. Egypt’s Authority for Maritime Safety has the lead. SB1 is consumer advisory, not an accident report. Which means it’s written for you.

1. Book through recognised vendors who can give you assurance about the boat’s safety standards. Online ratings don’t assure safety — the bulletin essentially says this. It also flags that a number of consumers have been switched to a different boat on arrival in Egypt, which kills whatever vetting they did. So ask the agent in writing which vessel, and what happens if it’s swapped.
2. On arrival, demand a thorough safety briefing before departure — emergency warning signal, emergency exits, muster stations, location and use of safety equipment, abandon ship procedures. Moll’s words: “exercise of extreme caution when choosing a boat.”

What BSAC adds

This is the part I’d actually print out.

• Walk the emergency exits yourself as part of the briefing. Verify they open. Verify they’re clear.
• Find your life jacket in your cabin and on deck. Ask for an emergency drill before the boat leaves the harbor.
• Keep a small dive light by your bed. Some Red Sea boats use glow-in-the-dark fire signage, not electrically lit. If the power cuts in the middle of the night — which survivors say happened on Sea Story seconds before she went over — you want a light you can reach without standing up.
• Confirm rescue coverage before you fly. BSAC puts the Egyptian search-and-rescue rate at USD $4,000 per hour and notes the authorities may not launch until payment is guaranteed. Travel insurance, tour operator, or dive company — somebody needs to be on the hook for that in writing.

The take

Neither MAIB nor BSAC tells you not to go. I’m not telling you that either. What they’re telling you — and what Sea Story’s survivors are telling the BBC — is that the floor is lower than the marketing suggests, and the vetting is on the consumer because nobody else is doing it. These boats are built and modified outside the standards UK and European divers assume. Online reviews don’t tell you about the lifejacket lights. They don’t tell you whether the muster drill was real.

Read SB1/2025. It’s two pages. Then read the BSAC piece. Then book the trip — and ask the agent the questions before you pay.