IMO Secretary General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos has spoken of his shock at the devastating news of the loss of the ferry al-Salam Boccaccio 98, on passage between Saudi Arabia and Egypt, with heavy loss of life in bad weather conditions. He added, "It is inappropriate at this stage to speculate on what may have been the cause of the sinking and we must wait until we receive reliable information from the Egyptian and Panamanian authorities. Since learning of the incident, Mr Mitropoulos has been in constant contact with Eng. Mohamed Mansour, the Minister of Transport and Admiral M. Mahmoud Shereen, Head of the Maritime Transport Sector in the Ministry of Transport, both of Egypt, with Mr.