The Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport, affiliated with the Egyptian Ministry of Transport, announced in a statement that while the ship "Wadi Karnak," owned by the National Navigation Company (one of the subsidiaries of the Holding Company), was sailing from Safaga Port to Dunkirk Port in France to transport a wheat shipment to Egypt, the company received a distress signal at 7 PM on September 3, 2022, from the American Protection and Indemnity Club regarding signals of distress from a boat in the ship's sailing area.
In response, the company's management immediately instructed the ship's captain to change course and take all necessary actions to rescue the boat. Consequently, the ship's direction was altered by 40 nautical miles, and it sailed for five hours towards the area where the mentioned boat was located. The ship then communicated with the boat, approached it, secured it alongside the ship, and provided the passengers with all their needs for food, water, and medicine.
The company indicated that, concurrently, the ship contacted the Malta Search and Rescue Center (the nearest rescue site) and coordinated to keep the boat secured to the ship. However, as the waves intensified and water entered the boat, it was directed for the passengers to board the ship's deck after coordinating with the Malta Search and Rescue Center to ensure their safety.
It reported that once they were allowed to board, it was found that their nationalities included Syrians, Lebanese, and Palestinians who had left Lebanon in an attempt to migrate illegally towards a European port, totaling 60 individuals (24 men, 12 women, 20 children, and 4 infants), some of whom were in serious distress after spending a week at sea. The ship immediately provided living space for them and all necessary supplies.
The company confirmed that there were no fatalities and that all their conditions were stable. Coordination and oversight were carried out with all concerned parties through the company's Emergency Response Team (ERT), the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Egyptian Authority for Maritime Safety, the Maritime Transport Sector in Egypt, and the Malta Search and Rescue Center until the ship arrived in Malta with the aforementioned migrants on September 5, 2022, at 6 PM. All individuals were disembarked safely and checked on via a rescue launch from the Malta Search and Rescue Center at 7 PM.
For his part, the Egyptian Minister of Transport expressed gratitude to the company's management for their efforts to save the lives of the 60 individuals aboard the boat, affirming that all support would be provided to the company and all companies operating in this field to restore the strength of the Egyptian commercial fleet.
