Actually it was fire sprinkler and fire hose water, not sea water.
NOTE: Recall perhaps a few "common practices" of the past:
Ships barely seaworthy and barely able to make it out of port prior to sinking with loss of all aboard (It being very profitable to sell passage knowing the ship was unseaworthy). Ship captains appointed with no sea experience whatsoever. One ship captain appointed at age of 14. One janitor of a warehouse owner was appointed ship captain, no prior sea experience.
Oh, just to clarify matters: the reported 'common practices' in that post concerning unqualified ship's captains and unseaworthy vessels does NOT refer to Egyptian practices but to the practices that were common amongst a great seafaring nation: Great Britain.
The Egyptian government has already done more than the English government did when entire ship loads of Irish emigrants sank when barely out of port in calm weather.
It is important sometimes to maintain a sense of perspective about the color of pots and kettles.