The navy found an abandoned life-raft off the coast of Ras El-Hekma in the Marsa Matruh governorate on Tuesday evening, as part of the search and rescue operation for the crew of a fishing boat.

The life-raft was the fourth to be found, and early on Wednesday morning the search and rescue operation was officially called off.

According to state-news agency MENA the first three life-rafts were discovered on Monday evening but were all empty, which reduced the hopes of finding survivors.

On Monday a fishing boat sunk near Ras El-Hekma. The navy had been sent in to comb the area but strong winds and bad weather made the search difficult.

The Freedom and Justice Party said there were ten fishermen on board when the vessel suffered a broken propeller column and engine failure.