A survivor of the Egyptian tourist boat tragedy has revealed how she had to wait 35 hours for help and how she was “ready to die” after the yacht capsized in the Red Sea.
In November 2025, the yacht ‘Sea Story’, carrying 31 tourists and 13 crew members, was hit by a large wave near Marsa Alam in the southeast Egypt.
The disaster claimed four lives and seven people are still missing. including two British divers.
Lucianna Galetta, from Belgium, who was one of the survivors, was trapped on the sinking ship for 35 hours.
Talking to the BBC News Through tears, she said, “To be honest, I was ready to die.”
‘It’s very strange to be alive compared to others. I was more willing to die than to be alive and live like this now.’
She was on the boat with her partner Christophe Lemmens and the pair survived after finding an air pocket in the engine room at the rear of the boat, which was still sticking out of the water.
Lucianna and Christophe ended up sitting in the area while waiting to be rescued and were later joined by diving instructor Youssef al-Faramawy.
Survivors of the Egyptian tourist boat tragedy have described their horror as the boat capsized and filled with water, including Lucianna Galetta, from Belgium, who was trapped on the sinking boat for 35 hours and revealed she was “ready to die “.
Although she was “very happy” to hear a rescue helicopter about eight hours after the boat capsized, Lucianna says they had to wait another 27 before receiving help.
And he added: ‘We had no communication with the outside, nothing. No one tried to see if anyone was alive there.
The trio ended up being rescued by al-Faramawy’s uncle, Khattab al-Faramawi, a local Egyptian diving instructor.
Lucianna added: ‘We waited 35 hours. I don’t understand how there are no divers on Egyptian military ships.’
The incident occurred during adverse weather conditions, with Egypt’s Red Sea Ports Authority reporting waves between 10 and 13 feet high and wind speeds of 34 knots in the area, leading to the closure of shipping traffic.
The ship departed on a diving trip from Ghalib Port in Marsa Alam on November 24 and was scheduled to arrive at Hurghada Marina on November 29.
However, the ship never made the trip and tilted to one side around 3 a.m., when most passengers were asleep in their cabins.
Fellow survivor Hissora González, from Spain, told the BBC how the rocking of the ship prevented her from sleeping that night.
Doctors and people waited for possible survivors after the ship sank in a port in Marsa Alam, Egypt, on November 25, 2024.
Another survivor, Dr Sarah Martin from the UK, said she remembered “looking at the waves” before the disaster.
When the engine shut down and the yacht tilted to one side, Hissora recalled how all the lights went out and he couldn’t tell if he was walking on the “floor or the roof” of the boat.
Another survivor, Dr Sarah Martin from the UK, said she remembered feeling worried about the size of the waves before the disaster.
When the crew was asked if this was “normal” weather, Dr. Martin said they responded with a “shrug.”
He added: “We didn’t realize the danger we were in.”
After the ship tilted, Sarah and Hissora headed to the emergency exit at the front of the ship.
Lucianna was on the boat with her partner Christophe Lemmens and they survived after finding an air pocket in the engine room at the rear of the boat, which was still sticking out of the water.
To escape, the couple had to climb over door frames and beams, which they found “quite disorienting”.
The couple jumped into the icy water without life jackets because they feared the boat would sink completely.
Sarah added: “I thought if the ship was sinking, we had to get away from it so it wouldn’t sink us with it.”
Recalling the terror, Hissora described how the current was “very strong” and her friend Chris “was swept away.”
Natalia, one of the instructors, swam back to the boat to look for someone else and could hear screams from a cabin.
He swam to the cabin window and tried to break it with debris, but was unsuccessful.
Despite local authorities suggesting the waves were to blame, 11 people who survived the disaster told the BBC they believe “crew error” and “safety lapses” by the tour operator, Dive Pro Liveaboard, could have contributed to the sinking.
Doctors wait for possible survivors after a ship sank in a port in Marsa Alam on November 25.
Rescuers and medics are seen on a pontoon after the boat capsized early in the morning.
Doctors wait for possible survivors after a ship sank in a port in Marsa Alam, Egypt’s Red Sea governorate, on November 25, 2024.
Ship tracking website Marine Traffic showed that the last location shared by the ship was somewhere off Hurghada.
Although the water felt “very rough” when they were still on board the ship, Dr Martin said he did not feel “extremely stormy” nor was he unable to swim in it.
Dr Simon Boxall, an oceanographer at the University of Southampton, said: “I’ve had a look at the data available for that region on wind conditions and there is no way a large wave would have caused the boat to capsize.”
“That really comes down to two options: pilot error or, in this case, navigator error or error in the design of the boat; most likely it could be a combination of both.”
The BBC contacted the company that operates the yacht, Dive Pro liveaboard, several times for their response to the survivors’ claims, but they never responded.
Red Sea Governor Amr Hanafi said it capsized “suddenly and rapidly between 5 and 7 minutes” after hitting the wave, leaving some passengers unable to get out of their cabins in time.
Army rescue teams and a passing tourist boat pulled 28 people from the water. Hanafi said the ship had passed its last safety inspection in March 2024 and no technical problems were reported.
The ship, owned by an Egyptian national, was 34 meters long and had received a one-year safety certificate from the Maritime Safety Authority.
Ship tracking website Marine Traffic showed that the last location shared by the ship was somewhere off Hurghada.
The Sea Story is a 144-foot, four-deck pleasure vessel built in 2022 and can carry up to 36 passengers.
The ship has a total of 18 double cabins with private bathrooms on board, which are used for tourists who go on diving trips hoping to explore the reefs of the Red Sea.