Diver who escaped shipwreck in Egypt feared his wife was stuck onboard the sinking vessel
A British diver who escaped a catastrophic shipwreck after a 47-metre yacht capsized in the Red Sea has revealed he didn’t know if his wife survived alive.
The Carlton Queen yacht, a 42-meter liveaboard vessel, sank on April 24 after rolling onto its side off the coast of Hurghada, Egypt.
Dr. Christian Hanson, 49, was among the holidaymakers who jumped aboard a diving club in Moraira, but later had to endure a race against time when the ship sank in the waters known as Egypt’s Bermuda Triangle.
He recounted the horrific ordeal he faced when the boat suddenly “tilted to about 40 degrees” while he and two other divers remained trapped in the boat as the windows began to crack and water began to seep in.
Incredibly, all 26 guests and nine crew members aboard the Carlton Queen managed to escape the wreckage, but Dr. Hanson knew that ‘if the boat capsized’ they would have been ‘dead’.
Dr. Christian Hanson was one of the divers aboard the boat when it sank in an area of the Red Sea known as Egypt’s Bermuda Triangle.
The boat turned on its side while divers were still trapped on board
Incredibly, all 26 occupants manage to escape the wreckage, while only three were taken to hospital with minor injuries – but Dr. Hanson warned that if all those on board had not been experienced divers or instructors, there would have been certain casualties.
“It was going to be a nice, easy crossing… we were talking about the dive, but suddenly there’s a huge sway in the boat and the tables move towards us and we have to lift our legs to avoid hitting it. us collide,” he said The mirror.
“Then the boat swings a long way in the other direction… very significantly in the opposite direction… it jerks and vibrates and we were thrown back from the seats against the windows.
“The boat is tilted about 40 degrees, you can see the bubbles in the water whizzing past the windows we’re standing on right now, the pressure of the water is also spouting water through the cracks around the window.”
Trapped with two other divers, Helen Merchant and Rob Janssens, they were only able to escape after the furniture was moved, allowing him to climb up and reach the door.
They eventually managed to escape the boat as the water filled up around them.
Dr. Hanson added, “We must have been thinking all along that if this boat capsizes, we’re going to be dead…the windows could have shattered, there were so many ways we could have been trapped in it.”
Once free, he saw the sinking ship heading towards his wife and finally made the rafts of the lifeboat.
Throughout his escape, the software engineer from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, had no idea whether his wife Michelle had escaped safely or not.
Terrified crew is seen clinging to the side of the yacht
The ship was en route to the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt when it sank in late April
A dive team stands by the sinking boat in Egypt
Another tourist on the boat, David Taylor, 53, told The Telegraph: ‘I knew something was wrong when I saw fish swimming outside my cabin room window.’
Describing the “horrible” realization that the ship had capsized, he added: “We screamed for help and heard the creaking overhead and had a deep sense of fear that something terrible was happening.”
Mr Taylor described the fear when he realized he and his son, Christian, 21, could not escape up the stairwell and no one had come to help them.
When the ship sank, they met Fernando Suarez Meilla, an experienced diver who went from room to room with them to check if anyone was still trapped in the boat.
Without panicking, Mr. Suarez Meilla Mr. Taylor and his son from the hold on the upper deck after discovering that an escape hatch handle was broken.
Unable to pull himself out, the diver told the others to continue while he looked for another way out.
He eventually found a way out through an open hatch at the bottom of the boat after discovering that all other routes were impossible to get through.
Mr Taylor expressed concern as to why a newly converted boat would sink on calm waters.
The Carlton Queen carried two 20-person life rafts and two Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIBs)
Image shows the ship on its side as guests successfully escaped with help from the crew
Reports suggested that the boat, built in 2002 and launched in 2022 after refurbishment, “tilted” — or tilted to one side — from the moment guests boarded, getting worse until it capsized.
When the ship sank, guests were stranded without passports or their belongings.
The Carlton Queen carried two 20-person life rafts and two Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIBs).
One of the rafts was launched, the other reportedly deployed automatically and wiped out.
Witnesses also showed that one of the RIBs had crushed the other when the ship capsized.
It added in a statement to Divernet: ‘While we are deeply saddened by the accident, we are relieved by the safe return of all guests and crew to shore. The Egyptian authorities are currently investigating the incident and our staff and crew are working with them to determine the reasons for the capsizing of the boat.
“The Carlton Fleet team emphasizes that Carlton Queen, which has recently been refurbished, has undergone all required maintenance, passed all inspections and is fit for operations, as confirmed by technical reports.”