British tourist who survived shipwreck recalls ‘fear’ as Carlton Queen ship slipped under Red Sea

A British tourist who escaped a Poseidon Adventure-style shipwreck in April spoke of the “deep sense of fear” when they saw their ship capsize in the Red Sea.

The Carlton Queen yacht, a 150-foot liveaboard, sank on April 25 after rolling onto its side off the coast of Hurghada, Egypt.

David Taylor, 53, a tourist on the boat, told De Telegraaf: ‘I knew something was wrong when I saw fish swimming outside my cabin room window’.

Describing the “horrible” realization that the ship had capsized, he added: “We screamed for help and heard the creaking overhead and had a deep sense of fear that something terrible was happening.”

All 26 guests and nine crew members on board the Carlton Queen managed to escape from the wreckage three taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Terrified crew is seen clinging to the side of the yacht

Image shows the ship on its side as guests successfully escaped with help from the crew

A dive team stands by at a RIB near the sinking boat in Egypt

Mr Taylor described the fear when he realized he and his son, Christian, 21, could not escape through the stairwell and no one had come to help them.

When the ship sank, they met Mr. Suarez Meilla, an experienced diver who went from room to room with them to check if anyone was still trapped in the boat.

Without panicking, Mr. Suarez Meilla Mr. Taylor and his son from the hold on the upper deck after discovering that an escape hatch handle was broken.

Unable to pull himself out, the diver told the others to continue while he looked for another way out.

He eventually found a way out through an open hatch at the bottom of the boat after discovering that all other routes were impossible to get through.

Mr Taylor expressed concern as to why a newly converted boat would sink on calm waters.

Reports suggested the boat was built in 2002 and launched in 2022 after renovationused to be ‘entry– or tilting to one side – from the moment the guests boarded, worse until it capsized.

Christian Hanson, a diver from the UK who was also on the sinking ship, said upon boarding on April 22, he noticed that the boat was heeling “a few degrees.”

He said it had hit 20 to 30 degrees a few days into the trip when he woke up for an early swim.

When the ship sank, guests were stranded without passports or their belongings.

The Carlton Queen carried two 20-person life rafts and two Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIBs).

One of the rafts was launched, the other Reportedly deployed and wiped out automatically.

Witnesses also showed that one of the RIBs had crushed the other when the ship capsized.

Hanson said at one point there were more than 30 people in the remaining raft and the group was lucky to have two RIBs from another ship come to evacuate them.

Families had to be rescued from the side of the sinking yacht

The Carlton Queen carried two 20-person life rafts and two Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIBs)

Tourists who survived the sinking of the Carlton Queen off Hurghada in Egypt in April

The Carlton Queen is said to have sunk on calm waters despite being recently refitted

Speak against Divernetthe Carlton Queen Red Sea said they would not comment on the cause of the accident until the investigation was over.

They did, however, praise the ‘crew members’ for effectively managing the situation, sparing the lives of all passengers.

They said in a statement that they were cooperating with Egyptian authorities to determine the cause of the accident.

Divers have organized one fundraiser to replace lost possessions, as well as medical and legal costs.