Fishermens Syndicate chief in Kafr El-Sheikh, Ahmed Nassar, urged Egyptian authorities to increase their efforts in finding eight fishermen who are missing.

The fishermen’s families lost contact with them and their whereabouts are unknown, Nassar told state-run MENA. “They said in their last phone call with their families that the boat had sprung a leak near Marsa Matrouh coast,” he said.

Dozens of Egyptian fishermen have been detained or gone missing in neighbouring countries, some of which have been going through security turbulence in recent months.

A fishing boat sank in Sudanese territorial waters on 30 January, carrying 14 people. Two have been rescued while one dead body was retrieved and 11 people remain missing.

Meanwhile, more fishermen have been detained for trespassing in regional waters in Libya and Tunisia.

In late April, Tunisian authorities detained 14 Egyptian fishermen near a Tunisian port.

Last month, Libyan authorities released 16 Egyptian fishermen from a village in Kafr Al-Sheikh governorate who had been held since July 2015.

Egyptian authorities have sent warnings to fishermen following similar incidents to avoid trespassing in other countries’ regional waters.