Med and Suez Canal

Photos: 1. Stromboli, 2. Suez Canal, 3 Great Bitter Lake,
4. Painting the ship while at sea

Mediterranean Sea and Suez Canal


Leaving Genova (9/28/07), we steamed down the Italian coast passing close by the active island volcano of Stromboli, which was spectacular at sunrise, and entered the Straits off Messina between Italy and Sicily. After passing through the Straits, we passed by the active volcano of Mt. Etna on the coast of Sicily. Setting a course of east southeast, we later made our way down the southern shores of Crete and continued toward Port Said, Egypt. Unfortunately, we wouldn’t be stopping at any of these exotic ports in this part of the world. Our next stop, after a 15-day passage, would be Singapore.

Cruising the Mediterranean brought back old memories for Doug of his time operating with the Sixth Fleet, when he was in the Navy in the early 1950s during the Korean and Cold Wars. The best memories were of the many interesting liberty ports but, being in these waters, he also recalled the harassment of Soviet “trawlers” and other foreign ships and the occasional aircraft, while they conducted flight operations. He says there were a lot of “dodgem car” games going on as they also tracked Soviet submarines departing the Black Sea and the Dardanelles.

We arrived at Port Said considerably behind schedule and missed our prior appointment of meeting our pilot at 0700 on 1 October. We finally picked up two pilots at 1800 and moored to buoys at 2200. There was a moment of unrest when the emergency alarm was sounded because of the several local Egyptians who boarded at the same time as the pilots. Doug, Martha and I were in the midst of watching a movie and, since we’d never heard the five-short-blast alarm before, were not quite sure what to do. We went out on the stern deck and looked down at the muster station (where we go for an emergency drill) but there was no one gathered there and all lights were out. Then we quickly went up to the bridge where we found only the Captain and one of the Egyptian pilots. The captain was looking very serious like he didn’t want to be disturbed so we waited and finally the third officer came up and told us what had happened.. Doors to the superstructure were secured and the “pirates” were bought off with a few cases of Marlboros. We went back to our cabin, locked our door and finished watching the movie.

Passage through the Suez Canal (often called the “crossroads of Europe, Africa and Asia”) consists of two southbound convoys and one northbound convoy each day. We departed early in the morning and reached the Great Bitter Lake by mid morning, where we anchored up with many other ships awaiting the passage of the northbound convoy. Anchored up with us was the USS Wasp, an LHA which carries an amphibious force of 1900 US Marines, landing craft, helicopters and Harrier jets. They were scheduled the first to leave for the continuation of our southbound passage and we were thinking they would probably just as soon be last as they are no doubt headed for the Persian Gulf and Iraq.

We finally departed the southern end of the Suez about 2200, dropped off our pilots and cranked up to our usual cruising speed of 18-19 knots to proceed down the Red Sea passing Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia on our starboard hand and the Sinai Peninsula, Saudi Arabia and Yemen to port.

For those interested in a little history of this famous canal, please read on:
The idea of linking the Mediterranean to the Red Sea dates back to ancient times. Unlike the modern Canal, earlier canals linked the Red Sea to the Nile, which forced ships to sail along the River on their journey from Europe to India. The Red Sea Canal consisted of two parts: the first linking the Gulf of Suez to the Great Bitter Lake, and the second connecting the Lake to one of the Nile branches in the Delta. The canal eventually fell into disrepair and was re-dug during the Roman Empire but was later abandoned upon the discovery of the trade route around Africa. In the mid 1800s the Suez Canal was designed by French engineers and built by Egyptian workers. The completion of the Canal was cause for considerable celebration. In Port Said, the extravaganza began with fireworks and a ball attended by six thousand people, including many heads of state, including Princes, Princesses, Emperors and Kings. The parties continued for weeks and also included the grand opening of Ismail’s Opera House in Cairo.

The Canal emerged on the political scene in 1956, during the Suez crisis. Egyptian president Nasser, announced the nationalization of the Canal. His decision was in response to British, French and American refusal for a loan aimed at building the Aswan High Dam. The revenue from the Canal would help finance the High Dam project. The announcement triggered a reaction by Great Britain, France and Israel, who all invaded Egypt less than two months later. Their action was condemned by the International community and Nasser claimed victory. In 1967, the Canal was closed at the wake of the Six Day War, when Israel occupied the Sinai Peninsula, causing the Canal to act as a buffer zone between the fighting forces. Egypt reclaimed the Canal upon the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, and the Canal was re-opened in 1975. Since then, the Canal, which stretches 167 kms (100 miles) across the Egyptian desert (from Port Said and the Mediterranean Sea to Suez and the Red Sea. And has changed the face of maritime world trade., has been widened twice. Today, about 50 ships transit the canal daily and the cities and beaches along the Bitter Lakes and the Canal serve as a summer resort for tourists. At its narrowest point, it is about 197 feet at the bottom, and is wide enough to allow ships with a draft of 53 feet. The Canal can accommodate ships as large as 150,000 tons fully loaded, but not wide enough to allow two way passage of ships. There are several passing bays where ships may pass - in the Bitter Lakes and between Qantara and Ismailia. There’s also a railway that runs the entire distance of the canal. The Suez has no locks because the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Suez are at the same water level. On a typical day, three convoys transit the canal - two southbound and one northbound. That is why we were given a time to arrive at the entrance and, even still, had to wait to enter. We also had to anchor for several hours in Great Bitter Lake for the Northbound ships to exit before we could continue on. If able to transit the Canal non-stop, it would take 11 to 16 hours at a (required) speed of 8 knots (the entire canal is a no-wake zone).


Life aboard has settled into somewhat of a routine though the relationships with the other passengers and the crew continue to develop. We’re a very harmonious group, each with our individual personalities and idiosyncrasies. An example being when I was recently sick for about four or five days. Of course Doug took good care of me, Martha stopped by and continued to send positive messages my way, Sunhilde said the best thing was to massage my stomach (always a circular motion in the same direction) for twenty minutes each morning, of course Helge didn’t say anything, Barbara practiced English enough to say “How are you feeling?”, Gani served me chicken broth, apple juice and tea; but the Captain was the best. He stopped by and said. “I know you’re not feeling well. We have medicines in the infirmary, I don’t know what they are, but you can check with the First Officer.” I said, well, I’m fairly sure it’s diverticulitis.” He didn’t understand, so I put my hand on my stomach and said, “It’s a stomach problem.” He took a step back, put his hands up and said “Oh, I’m a man, I wouldn’t know anything about that.” I assured him it wasn’t a female problem and he said “Well, then you should just eat rice for a few days.” Later, the Chief Engineer, Marenko, stopped by and told me in his Croatian-accented English that we had a syringe in the infirmary but no one on the ship really knows how to use it and he didn’t know what we would administer with it - perhaps it is to be used as an IV. It doesn’t give you a real comfortable feeling but certainly encourages us all to stay healthy on this cruise. So, I accepted all of the suggestions, took a full five-day prescription of antibiotics (that thankfully my doctor in San Diego had given me) and some fairly strong pain medication and was soon back to normal. I’ll continue to be more careful with my diet for the remainder of the cruise (absolutely no seeds and nuts) and lots of water. The good news is that I’m feeling great. Everyone else seems quite healthy - we’re fortunate that no one has gotten sea sick as we had a really rough couple of days in the Mediterranean.