A British visitor claims that the first time he realised his vacation dive boat had overturned was when he saw fish rather than the sky outside his window.
David Taylor was on board the Carlton Queen three weeks ago when it began to sink and begin to float away, along with other eager divers exploring the Red Sea.
Since then, a video showing panicked passengers scrambling up a nearly vertical deck, leaping over the side of the boat into the ocean, and clinging to their mattresses as they floated on the water’s surface has appeared online.
David, 53, told the Daily Telegraph: ‘I knew something was wrong when I could see fish swimming outside my cabin room’s window.’
The architectural technician from Nottinghamshire was one of 15 Brits on the ill-fated boat, among a total of 26 guests.
Remarkably, everyone on board survived the ordeal – including the nine crew members – with none requiring hospital treatment, according to reports.
David said: ‘We were shouting for help and heard crashing above us and had this deep-seated feeling of dread that something terrible was happening.
‘When we realised we couldn’t escape by the stairwell and no one had come to help us, it felt awful.’
The descriptions of the incident offered by some of the passengers who were on board the craft clashes with the interpretation offered by its owner, Carlton Fleet.
A GoFundMe page created by German survivor Dominic Schmitt says six of the divers were trapped inside the sinking boat for almost half an hour.
He wrote: ‘Our passports, given to the captain at the beginning of the voyage to evacuate with him in an emergency, were of course nowhere to be found.
‘They are somewhere in the Red Sea…if one day you come across a dolphin with a UK passport, you know where he got it.’
Speaking about ‘the company’, he added: ‘Instead of sending doctors they send lawyers, instead of providing help, they tried to spread fear among us and instead of taking responsibility for what had happened, they did not even show up to a meeting in which they initially told us to provide a compensation offer.’
However, Carlton Fleet told Scuba Diver magazine they had covered medical expenses and accommodation and had offered to pay more for the inconvenience.
A statement said: ‘Unfortunately, the company’s offer fell on deaf ears, and certain guests engaged in negotiation tactics and resorted to threats to strong-arm the Carlton Fleet into paying them larger amounts, notwithstanding their signature of releases and liability waivers, and the charterer’s clear instructions that they procure insurance for loss or damage to equipment and belongings prior to boarding the boat.’