Thirty-four years ago today, on December 14, 1991 (November 9, 1991 lunar calendar), the largest maritime disaster in Egyptian history. On the night of December 14, 1991, the Egyptian ferry "Sarim Express" sailed towards the port of Safaja in the Red Sea. Outside the cabin, the waves were rough and the wind was howling. The moonlight was so faint that the dim yellow lights in the cockpit shone on the clock, only making it vaguely clear that it was 22:45. As the captain, Hassan, cautiously directed the passenger ship forward, he picked up the wireless microphone and called to the port of Safaja, asking for a navigator to be sent ashore. According to regulations, any ship entering the port must be piloted by a navigator. "Sarim Express" belongs to a private shipping company in Egypt. It left the port of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia at about 20 p.m. on the 13th. According to the passenger list, there were 654 people on board at that time, including 78 crew members. Except for 13 foreign passengers, the passengers were all Egyptians. Most of them worked in Saudi Arabia, or returned home after the expiration of their contracts, or temporarily returned home for vacation. After years of hard work in Saudi Arabia, they are now returning to their homeland with their families and all their savings, ready to start a new life. According to the plan, the "Salim Express" will first stop at the port of Safajah, let some passengers disembark, and then send the other passengers directly to the destination port of Suez. At the base of Safajah port on the Red Sea, they were waiting for news of the "Salim Express". Due to the strong wind and waves, the passenger ship was delayed. Hearing Captain Hassan's call for pilotage, the port head teacher's first words were "God bless you". At this time, the navigator waiting on the side took the microphone and joked with the captain: "Captain, you let me on board, do you have supper?" Captain Hassan replied humorously: "I have prepared it for you..." Who knew that before he could finish his words, the ferry had an accident. Only Captain Hassan could be heard on the microphone intermittently, saying, "... The boat hit a reef... The hull is tilted 14 degrees... We are sinking..." After that, there was no sound. After a 10-minute call, there was still no response from the "Sarim Express". The head of the port base immediately made an urgent report to the Egyptian Armed Forces' operational headquarters and the defense minister himself, because it was clear that a shipwreck had occurred and immediate rescue was required. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was reported almost at the first moment of the accident, and has been specifically inquiring about the rescue work since then, and instructing that all efforts should be made to save the lives of passengers. Egyptian Prime Minister Sidji, who led five cabinet members, rushed to Safaja to conduct on-site rescue command. A maritime rescue operation was quickly in full swing in the Red Sea Province. Almost at the same time that the head of the Safaja port base reported to his superiors that the "Sarim Express" had been killed, the local search and rescue center had dispatched the first rescue team. Many cars were ordered to turn on their lights along the coast to give direction to the escapees. The navy and helicopter units were also ordered to participate in the rescue. At 4:25 am on the 15th, five helicopters flew to the vast Red Sea to search for the stricken passengers and determine the location of the wrecked ship. Subsequently, two groups of rescue troops from the navy also took to the sea in speedboats to rescue... Because the wrecked ship did not have time to report the exact location, it caused great difficulties to the rescue work. When the crash site was found, the shipwreck had occurred for a full 10 hours. The "Sarim Express" lay quietly on the bottom of the sea 32 meters deep outside the port of Safaja. It was a reef area, and the ship deviated from its course for some reason. When it hit the reef, the cargo hold door was knocked open, and a large amount of sea water poured in instantly, and the ship sank quickly within 7 minutes. There were not enough lifeboats, and many passengers jumped into the water to escape for their lives. At 2 pm on the 15th, the first rescue team sent back to the port, bringing back 118 survivors and one body. The second batch of rescue boats brought back 56 survivors and 3 bodies. Since then, only a few passengers have been rescued. According to the last report, only 180 people were rescued; 118 bodies were found after frogmen dived into the sunken ship; 356 people were missing. The shipwreck caused many families in Egypt to lose joy in the New Year. The captain, Hassan Khalil Moro, 51, was born into a family of seafarers. He started to board the ship at the age of 16. He has been a captain for 26 years. He is an experienced old captain and the highest paid captain in Egypt in the Red Sea. When the rescued frogman dove into the wreck, he was found standing in front of the compass in the cockpit wearing a captain's uniform, indicating that he was loyal to his duty and died in the line of duty. The Sarim Express, the largest passenger ferry in the Red Sea region and even the entire Middle East, has been transporting passengers between Suez City in Egypt and the port of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. Although it has been in operation for more than 20 years, it was designed by the French according to the requirements of warships. During the Gulf crisis, it was requisitioned by the Egyptian army and successfully transported the Egyptian 3rd Armored Division from Suez to the port of Yanbu in Saudi Arabia. The good track record of the captain and passenger ships in the past makes the wreck somewhat mysterious. The cause of the shipwreck was that the Sarim Express veered off course and hit a rock. The final compensation agreement is that each rescued person will receive 5,000 Egyptian pounds for property damage, and the injured will receive an additional 1,000 Egyptian pounds for treatment; the families of the missing and victims will receive 55,000 Egyptian pounds in pensions.