Oil-drilling ship capsized in Gulf of Suez

An oil-drilling ship capsized off Ras Ghareb in the Gulf of Suez, killing four crew members and leaving four missing. Twenty-two were rescued. The incident occurred near Gabel el-Zeit, with ongoing search efforts by Egyptian navy vessels

Cairo: An oil-drilling ship capsized in the Gulf of Suez, killing at least four crewmen and leaving four others missing, authorities said on Wednesday. The drilling ship overturned on Tuesday evening off the city of Ras Ghareb, on the African side of the Gulf of Suez, the Red Sea’s northwestern arm and a crucial shipping route, the Petroleum Ministry said in a statement.

There were 30 workers on board when the drilling ship capsized, said Amr Hanafy, governor of the Red Sea province.Rescue teams recovered four bodies and rescued two 22 others who were taken to hospitals, he said.

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He said ships from the Egyptian navy joined the search-and-rescue efforts which were still ongoing overnight for four missing crewmen. The capsizing happened in an area called Gabel el-Zeit, a prominent Egyptian oil production site around 300 km south of the Suez Canal, the ministry said in a statement.

The capsizing was unlikely to cause disruption to vessels transiting through the canal, which links the Gulf of Suez to the Mediterranean Sea.