It's a hajj ship.
It's a hajj ship.
Also a 'LATEST' headline on the BBC News website now...
German TV said it was a ferry.
By SALAH NASRAWI, Associated Press Writer 4 minutes ago
CAIRO, Egypt - An Egyptian cruise ship with 1,300 people on board has disappeared from radar screens in the Red Sea off the Saudi coast, Egyptian maritime officials said Friday.
Lifeboats carrying people have been spotted on the sea near where the ship, the "Salaam 98," was last seen on the radar screens, maritime officials said.
via CNN: An Egyptian helicopter spotted a lifeboat carrying three people, an official said. He added the search was being hampered by bad weather.
By SALAH NASRAWI, Associated Press Writer 1 minute ago
CAIRO, Egypt - An Egyptian cruise ship with 1,300 people on board has disappeared in the Red Sea off the Saudi coast, Egyptian maritime officials said Friday.
Lifeboats carrying people have been spotted near where the ship, the "Salaam 98," was last seen, maritime officials said.
Saudi and Egyptian naval vessels and helicopters were searching for the ship, which disappeared from radar screens shortly after sailing from the port of Dubah, western Saudi Arabia, at 7 p.m. local time on Thursday night, the maritime officials in Suez said.
They spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to address the media.
The ship was to have arrived at Egypt's southern port of Safaga at 3 a.m. local time, the officials added.
"We lost all contact with the ship shortly after it left the Saudi port," said one maritime official at Suez. Its last position on the radar screens was 62 miles from Dubah.
An Egyptian helicopter spotted a lifeboat carrying three people, an official said. He added the search was being hampered by bad weather.
The ship is owned the Egyptian company El-Salaam Maritime Transport Co. and was carrying 1,300 passengers, the official added. Some of the passengers are believed to be pilgrims returning from the annual hajj to Mecca, which ended last month.
al-qaeda I bet....cruise ships just don't disapear without a distress signal.
cnn tv covering it now
conflicting information
no confirmation
dissapeared off the saudi coast
some sources tell ap that they have seen vessels in the area where the ship was last seen 60mi off the coast of saudi arabia
conflicting information on the passengers identity
some passengers are hajj pilgrims
reuters reports most passengers are egyptian laborers who work in saudi arabia
ship was headed to safaga, egypt
dissapeared from radar 62 miles off the coast
reports of rescue vessels in the area but no confirmation
ship dissapeared at 5am est
no confirmation of how many people are on board
spokesman for the company who owns the ship didnt know how many people are on board
egyptian govt initiated a search
gosh this cnn idiot is babbling and contradicting herself
cnn is talking about bacteria and fungus on the pillow now
ok more details - supposedly new details
ben wedeman reporting
nope, nothing new.
Did the ship have offensive cartoons or Danish cookies on board?
OMG!
I hear people laughing in the background on cnn
anyone catch that
lloyds of london guy on cnn says the ship is an old piece of junk and that this type of ship likes to capsize, and that the outlook is grim. He says only 3-4 people have been spotten on a lifeboat.
Another result of global warming...not surprising.
must be that Muslim Triangle again!
Subject Ferry ; Al Salam 89: 
Celebrity Cruiseliner; Mercury 
Watch. Within 48 hours we're going to be hearing about the rumors spreading through Arab cities that a U.S. submarine torpedoed it.
Perhaps just perhaps someone got it confused with one of our hospital ships.
