The MS al-Salam Boccaccio 98 was an Egyptian Ro/Ro passenger ferry, operated by El Salam Maritime Transport, that sank on 3 February 2006 in the Red Sea en route from Duba, Saudi Arabia, to Safaga in southern Egypt. The ship was carrying about 1400 passengers and crew. The majority are thought to have been Egyptians working in Saudi Arabia, but they included pilgrims returning from the Hajj in Mecca. The ship was also carrying about 220 vehicles. No Mayday had been heard from the ship and poor weather conditions hampered the search and rescue operation. 388 people were rescued. The immediate cause of the sinking appears to have been a buildup of seawater in the hull, when the firefighters were trying to extinguish a fire in the engine room. This was compounded by design faults inherent in Ro/Ro vessels, where minor flooding of the deck can gain rapid momentum due to the free surface effect. When the captain asked permission to return to port, the ship's owners ordered him to continue, despite knowing that there had been a fire. The owners were jailed in 2009 after their original acquittal was overturned. Ship history The vessel was built by the Italian company Italcantieri in 1970 with IMO number 6921282 and named Boccaccio at Monfalcone, Italy for Tirrenia di Navigazione. She was originally intended for Italian domestic service. Her dimensions were length overall with beam and draft. The main engines were rated at 16,560 kW for a maximum speed of . The vessel had an original capacity of 200 automobiles and 1000 passengers. Five sister ships were built. The vessel was rebuilt in 1991 by INMA at La Spezia, maintaining the same outer dimensions albeit with a higher superstructure, changing the draught to . At the same time her automobile capacity was increased to 320 and the passenger capacity was increased to 1,300. The most recent tonnage was 11,799 GT. Boccaccio was purchased in 1999 by El Salam Maritime Transport, headquartered in Cairo, the largest private shipping company in Egypt and the Middle East, and renamed al-Salam Boccaccio 98 (, ); the registered owner was Pacific Sunlight Marine of Panama. She was also referred to as Salam 98. The sinking Its last known position was from Duba, when it lost contact with the shore at about 22:00 EET (20:00 UTC). First reports of statements by survivors indicated that smoke from the engine