Cruise Ship Vanishes With 1,300 on Board

Fears for the lives of 1,300 people on board an Egyptian cruise ship were growing today after the vessel vanished from radar screens in the Red Sea last night.

Egyptian officials said bodies had been seen in the water and one lifeboat, carrying three people, was seen close to where the ship disappeared.

The Salaam 98 had been en route from Dubah, on the west coast of Saudi Arabia, to the southern Egyptian port of Safaga, officials said.

It vanished shortly after leaving Dubah at 7pm local time (2200 GMT), and should have arrived at Safaga at 3am (0000 GMT).

Saudi and Egyptian naval vessels and helicopters were searching for the ship and its passengers.

The passengers were reported to be mainly Egyptian, with a number of them thought to have been returning from the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, which ended last month.

"We lost all contact with the ship shortly after it left the Saudi port," an official said.

The ship's last position on the radar screens was 62 miles from Dubah, the official said. It is owned by the Egyptian El-Salaam Maritime Transport Co.