Booman Tribune ~ A Progressive Community

Egypt's tragedy right out of Syriana

by sybil
Sat Feb 4th, 2006 at 07:32:43 AM EST

From writer/director Stephen Gaghan, winner of the Best Screenplay Academy Award for Traffic, comes Syriana, a political thriller that unfolds against the intrigues and corruption of the global oil industry. From the players brokering back-room deals in Washington to the men toiling in the oil fields of the Persian Gulf, the film's multiple storylines weave together to illuminate the human consequences of the fierce pursuit of wealth and power.

At the other end of the wage scale in Nasir's country are the migrant laborers toiling in its energy fields, [...]

The movie demonstrates how unfairly these laborers are treated, summarily dismissed from their jobs after a comppany merger. They live in squalid conditions near the oil fields, spending years away from their homes and families.

And when they do go home for vacation they likely board old 'roll-on, roll-off' ferry boats, a high percentage of which are involved in disasters.

Egyptian Ferry Sinks in Red Sea; 1,000 May Be Lost

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, Feb. 4 -- A ferry carrying more than 1,400 passengers and crew, most of them Egyptian laborers returning from Saudi Arabia, sank Friday about 40 miles off the coast of Egypt, and by late evening, only 324 people had been rescued. [...]

Ferry disaster.

Some shouted to waiting journalists, angry that their rescue had taken so long.
"They left us in the water for 24 hours. A helicopter came above us and circled, we would signal and they ignored us," one man shouted. "Our lives are the cheapest in the world," another said. Lines of police kept journalists away from the survivors to prevent them asking questions.

Egypt's tragedy right out of Syriana | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Riot Police Engage Families in Port City (4.00 / 5)

Anger grows over ferry disaster

Survivors say a fire blazed for hours on a Red Sea ferry before it sank, leaving 1,000 people feared dead.

The fire broke out soon after the ship left Saudi Arabia, but it sailed on towards Egypt for two hours before finally sinking, angry survivors say.

Around 380 people have been rescued, but most of the other estimated 1,400 people on board are feared lost.

Unrest broke out in the Egyptian port of Safaga as relatives desperate for news clashed with riot police.

Mahfouz Taha Marzouk said the ship, "Salaam 98," sank 40 miles off the Egyptian port of Hurghada.

SHIPPING DISASTERS


Titanic, UK, 1,503 killed

Kiangya, China, 3,920

Toya Maru, Japan, 1,172

Dona Paz, Philippines, 4,375

Salam Express, Egypt, 464

Estonia, Estonia, 852

Bukoba, Tanzania, more than 500

Joola, Senegal, more than 1,800

al-Salam Boccaccio 98

Left Port City of Duba in Saudi Arabia

Al Jazeera -- The ferry disappeared shortly after leaving the port of Duba in Saudi Arabia on Thursday evening, bound for Safaga in southern Egypt. It was last recorded to be 100km from Duba.

Most of the passengers are thought to be Egyptians working in Saudi Arabia but some reports say the ship also carried pilgrims returning from the holy city of Mecca after the annual pilgrimage, or Hajj.

The 6,650-tonne al-Salam Boccaccio 98 is owned by the Egyptian company, el-Salam Maritime Transport.

Safety concerns with shipping in Middle East, due to low passenger fares and poor safety precuations.

Hopes fade for 1,000 passengers missing in the Red Sea

SAFAGA, Egypt (Al Jazeera) Feb. 4 -- According to survivors' accounts, the ferry began listing to one side shortly after it departed, but sailed on for two hours, before it started sinking. "It just went onto its side and within five minutes it had sunk, Reuters quoted one of the survivors as saying.

Coastal stations didn't receive a distress call, said an official from the company that owned the ferry. However Egypt's MENA news agency reported that another ship picked up a message from the ferry's captain asking for help as the ship was in danger of sinking.

Weeping relatives of passengers are waiting at the port where the ferry should have arrived at midnight on Friday.

"They are not telling us anything," Gadir Mohammed shouted outside the port's gates. "Where are the corpses? Where are they taking the survivors?"

"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY

by Oui on Sat Feb 4th, 2006 at 08:30:32 AM EST

Re: Riot Police Engage Families in Port City (4.00 / 4)

We do business with these Saudi murderers...in fact we SUPPORT THEM IN POWER.

And then we wonder why Islamic militants are willing to blow themselves up in the cause of anti-Imperialism. (Because make no mistake...that is what this Third World War is all about. It is the Third World against the Economic Imperialists. Bet on it. It is not a religious or even a cultural war. It is about money, power, and self-rule.)

"Our lives are the cheapest in the world", eh?

Then small wonder if they sacrifice themselves for the greater good as they perceive it.

Ask any fighter.

The most dangerous enemy is one who does not care if he lives or dies.

Bet on it.

AG

Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie.-Mae West

by Arthur Gilroy (arthurgilroy<at>earthlink.net) on Sat Feb 4th, 2006 at 01:18:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Egypt's tragedy right out of Syriana (4.00 / 5)

As I was reading the CNN coverage of the sinking, and the list of maritime disasters they posted it occurred to me how quickly these tragedies are forgotten. Especially considering the great loss of life compared to the re-telling of the romantic sinking of the Titanic. How many times do ferrys overturn in India, Indonesia and other places where hundreds and even thousands are lost on a regular basis? It's another example of us vs. them thinking. If it doesn't happen to us it's not really important.

June 15, 1904
A fire aboard the General Slocum excursion steamer in the East River near New York City killed 1,030 people, mostly picnickers from New York's German community.
April 14-15, 1912
Britain's Titanic luxury liner sinks after hitting an iceberg in the north Atlantic; 1,503 are killed.
September 28, 1912
The Japanese steamer Kichemaru sinks off Japan, killing 1,000.
May 29, 1914
A total of 1,014 people die when Britain's Empress of Ireland steamer collides with a Norwegian collier in the St. Lawrence River east of Father Point, Quebec.
May 7, 1915
A German submarine torpedoes Britain's Lusitania steamer off the coast of Ireland, killing 1,198.
February 26, 1916
A French cruiser, the Provence sinks in the Mediterranean, with 3,100 people lost.
August 29, 1916
One thousand people die when the Chinese steamer Hsin Yu sinks off the coast of China.
December 6, 1917
A French ammunition ship, Mont Blanc, and a Belgian steamer named Imo collide in Halifax Harbor, killing 1,600 people.
March 18, 1921
One thousand people are killed when a steamer named Hong Kong is wrecked in the South China Sea.
January 30, 1945
Between 5,000 and 9,000 people die when a Soviet submarine in the Baltic sinks the Wilhelm Gustloff, which was carrying German refugees and soldiers.
April 16, 1945
A cargo ship Goya, carrying German refugees and soldiers, is sunk by Soviet submarine in the Baltic with the loss of between 6,000 and 7,000 people.
May 3, 1945
British warplanes sink two German liners --- Cap Arcona and Thielbek --- that were carrying concentration camp inmates in Lubeck Bay; between 6,000 and 7,000 are killed.
November 1948
Six thousand people die when a Chinese army evacuation ship explodes and sinks off south Manchuria.
December 3, 1948
An explosion wrecks Kiangya, a Chinese refugee ship, south of Shanghai, killing 1,100 people or more.
September 26, 1954
A Japanese ferry, the Toya Maru sinks in Tsugaru Strait, killing 1,172 people.
December 20, 1987
The Dona Paz ferry and an oil tanker, Victor, collide in Tablas Strait, the Philippines, killing 4,341 people.
September 28, 1994
An Estonian ferry sinks in the Baltic, with the loss of 1,049 people.
September 26, 2002
An overloaded Senegalese ferry capsizes in ocean off the coast of Gambia, killing 1,863 people.

Green Grass and High Tides Forever

by supersoling (colorsplash62@optonline.net) on Sat Feb 4th, 2006 at 01:07:07 PM EST

Egypt's tragedy right out of Syriana | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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