Prosecutors ordered the detention of the captain of the capsized ferryboat on Monday for investigation, a day after the 20-year-old turned himself in to authorities.
He was charged with manslaughter and violating occupational safety for river transport.
On Wednesday, a deadly collision occurred in the Nile, leaving 38 people dead, in an accident which has attracted widespread public attention.
The ministry of interior said “a barge collided” with the ferryboat in Giza, “shattering” the latter.
The ministry has attributed the accident to the captain of the barge, who was arrested alongside his assistant.
Transportation accidents are a daily occurrence in Egypt, where there is complacency towards applying safety measures.
On Sunday, the Egyptian cabinet introduced a set of safety measures related to transportation in the Nile.
The cabinet banned navigation in the river along Greater Cairo from sunset to sunrise, a limit that will remain in place until the end of September.