 Questions are being raised over the safety of the Al Salam 98 which had been at sea for 36 years. Hosni Mubarak, the president of Egypt, demanded an immediate investigation into the accident, while a presidential spokesman said the speed at which the ship sank and the fact there were not enough life rafts on board confirmed there had been a safety problem.
| Didn't we figure all this out back in 1912? |
 The Italian classification firm RINA, which is in charge of the ship, said the company was ready to co-operate with investigators. According to shipping expert Yvan Perchoc, the Al-Salam Baccaccio 98 is one of several old Italian ferries to which extra levels were added to boost passenger capacity, sometimes threefold. Farid al-Douadi, the ship's Saudi agent, said the Al-Salaam 98, registered in Panama, was built in 1971 and renovated in 1991. It had a maximum capacity of 2500 passengers. |
