CAIRO, April 21 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian court on Wednesday convicted 58 officials of involvement in a sunken ferryboat case, in which around 1,400 people died after the boat sank into the Red Sea off Saudi coast, state-run MENA news agency reported.

Egypt's Supreme Disciplinary Court ordered dismissing 11 employees of the Egyptian Authority for Maritime Navigation Safety and the Ministry of Transport of their jobs, sending 15 others to early retirement and suspending 21 for six months.

The court also ordered reducing one-month salary from three employees, fining six others five-fold their monthly salary whereas the last two were reprimanded.

The al-Salam 98 ferry sank in the Red Sea in February 2006, claiming the lives of around 1,400 people.

According to the verdict, the convicts have facilitated granting the owner company passenger safety certificates despite its lack of the "least maritime safety devices." They also issued certificates that allowed the owner company to overload the ferry.

On March 11, the ferry owner was sentenced in absence to seven years behind bars while two senior officials of the company received three years each.