The Brother Islands- off al-Akhawain island near al-Quseir
al-QUSEIR, Egypt (8 August 2004) -- Helicopters, navy ships and dive boats are searching for 12 scuba divers who went missing in the Red Sea early Saturday morning. The missing divers - five British, five Portuguese and two Belgians - were diving with the MV Oyster liveaboard off al-Akhawain, the Brother islands.

Officials supervising the search believe the divers were swept towards the west by strong currents.All ships in the area have been alerted that divers are missing and other dive boat operators have joined the search.

Dolphins led rescuers to missing Red Sea divers
EGYPT (10 August 2004) -- The British divers lost in the Red Sea for 13 and a half hours after being swept away told yesterday how they feared they would die and how they believed dolphins led rescuers to them.
As the five Britons, who were rescued with two Belgians and five Portuguese after a huge air and sea seach, recovered yesterday they spoke of how they fought severe exhaustion, dehydration and sunburn. Boats and spotter planes failed to locate them when they lost contact with their Egyptian diving boat and were swept 45 miles away.
They roped themselves together, told jokes and sang Christmas carols to keep their spirits up as they drifted further and further from the Oyster, their live-aboard boat.

Yesterday the Britons, Richard Hallam, 28, the divemaster, and friends Bruce de Courcy, 48, and Paul Moulton, Geoff Woodfield and Alexandra Douglas, all from south London, were continuing their holiday and back diving after their ordeal. "We are all pretty shaken," said Mr de Courcy, a water feature designer, who met the other three on a Red Sea diving trip last year.

"When you think back, when you sit on your own and you think about it, it makes you cry," he said in an interview from the boat. The five were in a party of 12 experienced divers who dived at 9am off al-Akhawain, the Brother islands. During the dive they were excited to see a hammerhead shark and two grey reef sharks on the reef.

They surfaced early and, following diving procedure, positioned a Surface Marker Buoy to alert the Oyster crew, although the current had already caused them to drift. But, possibly because of the sun and the reflection on the water, the marker buoy was not spotted by the crew. The 12 stuck together. Early on they saw a container ship and then another live-aboard ship, but the vessels passed by. Then, after six hours, they saw a spotter plane. By now a full-scale emergency search had been underway for hours involving a private helicopter, the Egyptian navy and alerts to all ships in the area, activated by the Oyster Club that organised the diving trip.

"When we saw that plane, and it came right over our heads, we thought, 'That's it. We're safe'," said Mr de Courcy, a father of two daughters, aged 16 and 20. "Then it didn't dip its wings, nothing happened and it appeared it hadn't seen us. So from a real high, we were down to a real low." The 12, most of whom had only met on the boat, kept each other going by talking about their backgrounds. They numbered themselves one to 12 and every few minutes - especially when it got dark - called out their numbers in sequence to make sure all were there. Though the water was warm and they were wearing wetsuits, they were losing body heat and forced themselves to keep moving.

Everybody was exhausted. Two - a Belgian and a Portuguese - did not seem to be coping with the cold. "I would say those two would not have made it overnight," said Mr Hallam, the divemaster. As it grew dark, each tried to suppress panic. "Everyone was searching in the wrong place," said Mr de Courcy, who is himself a qualified diving instructor. "Not only that, but when you are on the surface, you can't help wondering what's going to happen to your legs."

Although he believed the sharks in the area were placid and did not normally attack humans, "you can't help but wonder what is down there". They spotted mountains in the dusk, tied themselves together and began swimming towards them slowly on their backs. Navigating by compass and two stars, they estimated they could reach the shore 30 miles away. "I think by that point we pretty much thought we had had it," said Mr de Courcy.

Then at around 8.30pm they sighted the Thunderbird, another live-aboard boat, and this time their torch signals received a positive response. "It was adrenaline, relief, happiness," said Mr Hallam. On board, all celebrated with a cigarette - even the non-smokers. All were examined at the scene by a doctor and opted to continue their holiday. George Saleed, from the Oyster Club, said protocol had been followed to the strictest letter. Longwood Holidays, the London-based tour operators which booked the holiday, said they had used the Oyster Club for many years and regarded them as very reliable.

An investigation is now under way by the Red Sea Association for Diving and Watersports. Mr Hallam, who has worked for the Oyster Club for two months, said: "One of the most amazing things was, after we were rescued, the guys on the boat said there were dolphins jumping across the prow in the direction we were actually in. "We heard dolphins when we were in the water, we could hear their echo location. I think those dolphins drew attention to us. There are stories about dolphins helping humans in distress, protecting them. And I think thosedolphins helped us."

SOURCE - Telegraph