February 3, 2006 – En route from Duba, Saudi Arabia, to Safaga, Egypt, the ferry Al-Salam Boccaccio 98 sank in the Red Sea, 56 miles off the Egyptian coast. Of the approximately 1,400 people aboard, many were Egyptians working in Saudi Arabia, while others were pilgrims returning from Mecca. A fire on the car deck reportedly caused the disaster, which killed more than a thousand passengers.
Before Costa Concordia: Peacetime Sea Tragedies Through History
In the wake of the recent Costa Concordia disaster off Italy's west coast, NewsFeed takes a look back at some of the world's worst peacetime ship disasters since Titanic.