room was followed by a fire which continued for some time. There were also reports of the ship listing soon after leaving port and that, after continuing for some hours, the list became severe and the ship capsized within 10 minutes as the crew fought the fire. In a BBC radio news broadcast an Egyptian ministerial spokesman said the fire had started in a storage area, was controlled, but started again. The significance of the fire was supported by statements attributed to crew members, who were reported to have claimed that "the firefighters essentially sank the ship when sea water they used to battle the fire collected in the hull because drainage pumps were not working." Weather conditions The Red Sea is known for its strong winds and tricky local currents. The region had been experiencing high winds and dust storms for several days at the time of the sinking. These winds may have contributed to the disaster and may have complicated rescue efforts. The closest maritime weather report for 3 February 2006 00:00 UTC was from MV Glasgow Maersk, call sign MZGK7. Reporting from 27.00°N 34.40°E, approximately north-north-west of the sinking, the container ship shows winds of 24.1 kt (13 ms−1) from 320 degrees, with a surface pressure of 1005 hPa. Sea temperature was and a significant wave height of only . Visibility was good (), with 7/8 cloud cover. There was also an active weather front overlying the area, clearly visible in METEOSAT imagery. Numbers on board The ship was carrying 1,312 passengers and 96 crew members, according to Mamdouh Ismail, head of al-Salaam Maritime Transport Company. Earlier an Egyptian official had mentioned 1,310 passengers and 105 crew (however, the Egyptian presidential spokesman mentioned 98 crew, while the Transport Minister said 104). Possible causes Several theories have been put forward about possible causes of the sinking. Fire: Some survivors reported that there was a large fire on board before the ship sank, and there are eyewitness accounts of thick black smoke coming from the engine rooms. Design flaws: al-Salam Boccaccio 98 was a roll on-roll off (ro-ro) ferry. This design allows vehicles to drive on one end and drive off the other, meaning, in theory, neither the ship nor any of the vehicles onboard need to turn around at any point. It also means that the cargo hold is one long chamber going through the ship. To accomplish