Travelling to Sudan

[Sharmer]

I recently went to Sudan and flew from Cairo into Port Sudan. At Cairo airport my dive bag was xrayed and no problems or questions asked. When I got to Port Sudan, the bag had been ripped open. Luckily it was on the seam around the zip so whilst I was on the liveaboard, it was stiched up.

When I showed the dive guide, he said it was because I had torches in it and that if they contained batteries, it could lead to problems in the hold. I have travelled many times with the same luggage and it has never been a problem.


Has anyone else heard of this happening?

[Lou]

We were told not to leave batteries in torches when we flew to Sharm recently.

High powered torches that switch on accidently are obviously a fire risk in the hold, so to negate this risk it is easiest to ask people to remove all batteries from all torches.

Lou

[noodle]

I was on the same route from Cairo to Port Sudan and there was no question about batteries and torch. However, on another trip, I was asked if I had batteries in the torch and if I did, to just remove them from the torch, in case it gets knocked and accidentally switches on.

[PW1664]

Never had a problem, after saying that I always reverse the battery just in case (ok for me as both terminals are on the top of the battery).

I doubt whether official staff would rip open the bag to look at batteries, maybe some 'interested party' !

More likely that your bag got ripped through heavy handling, they quite often throw them from the hold, unbelievable really.