Ships collide in Gulf of Suez

CAIRO - An Egyptian passenger ship bringing some 1500 Muslim pilgrims back from Saudi Arabia was involved in a collision with a commercial vessel in the Gulf of Suez on Monday and about 20 people were injured, security sources said.

Twenty launches went to the scene of the collision and helped to save 1443 passengers from the damaged ship, said a security source in the Egyptian town of Suez. Fatalities were possible but have not been confirmed, he said.

The passenger ship, the Al Salam 95, which is owned by the Egyptian company el-Salam Maritime Transport, was en route from the Saudi port of Jeddah after the passengers performed the umra, or lesser pilgrimage in Mecca.

The company's website says the vessel has a gross tonnage of 5857 tonnes and room for 2221 passengers.

The collision took place three hours' sailing time south of Suez and tugs are now pulling it towards Suez, the sources said.

Egyptian television said the other vessel was Cypriot but no other details of its identity were immediately available.

- REUTERS