An Egyptian passenger ferry carrying around 1,300 people, mostly Egyptian workers returning from Saudi Arabia, sank in the Red Sea overnight.

President Mary McAleese sent a message of condolence to Egypt today after the tragic sinking of a passenger ferry carrying around 1,300 people.

Coast Guard vessels have pulled dozens of bodies from the water today after an Egyptian passenger ferry carrying around 1,300 people (or up to 1,415 according to some reports), mostly Egyptian workers returning from Saudi Arabia, sank in the Red Sea overnight.

Egyptian maritime director Mahfouz Taha Marzouk has said 12 survivors and 15 bodies have been picked up from a passenger ferry that has sunk in the Red Sea.

An Egyptian passenger ship carrying 1,300 people, including Muslim pilgrims returning from the hajj, has disappeared from radar screens in the Red Sea off the Saudi coast, Egyptian maritime officials said today. Bodies were spotted floating in the sea.