I spent the Eid vacation between Hurghada and Marsa Alam. It was my first vacation since the January revolution broke out, and was badly needed. It was strange though being in the south without Ismail Marzouk. He’s been on my mind a lot.
You can find some of the pictures I took during the trip here on this flickr set…
The family of our Ismail Marzouk went yesterday to the Public Prosecutor’s office, filing a report against the British company, Blue O Two, accusing the latter of negligence and absence of industrial safety standards that led to their son’s death.
On 9 September, Ismail’s family will join a protest in Hurghada planned by the divers to call for improving work conditions and enforcing safety measures on the tourism/diving companies. Rest in peace Ismail…
Carlos Lattuf drew this cartoon of diver and activist Ismail Marzouk… Thanks a lot Carolos, and may Ismail rest in peace…
Ismail Marzouk, one of Egypt’s leading technical diving instructors, has died today in Daedalus, during a wreck dive. He was 33. His body was never recovered.
As a young Cairo law student, Ismail was active with the socialist movement, before moving to the Red Sea where he worked in eco-tourism, learned diving and quickly became one of the most prominent IANTD instructors in the Red Sea. I spent weeks with Ismail last winter in Hurghada, where he introduced me to technical diving. His hospitality, sense of humor were unmatched. His home in Hurghada, I felt, was mine too thanks to his warm fraternal personality. Ismail, who passionately supported the revolution, has also been active in the ongoing efforts to unionize Egypt’s divers.
He is survived by his wife, Jude, and baby daughter, Aisha. He will be terribly missed by his family and friends. Rest in peace, Ismail.
IANTD Instructor Ismail Marzouk demonstrating the deployment of the SMB…
IANTD Instructor Ismail fixing and preparing the gear for a deco dive drill at Tondoba, Marsa Alam…
I’m in Hurghada, where I’ll stay for a couple of days, and then head down south to Marsa Alam. It was a lovely day that included a reunion with my first scuba diving instructor, Ahmad Boody, and finally got to meet Ismail Marzouk, a technical diving instructor whom I’ve heard a lot about.
Boody and Ismail helped me out with shopping for some needed diving gear, and hopefully Ismail will be introducing me to technical diving by next week.
Hossam el-Hamalawy is an Egyptian journalist from Cairo
hossam [at] arabawy [dot] org
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