Egypt
Ash Shaţţ

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    • Day 290

      Durch den Suez Kanal

      March 21, 2019 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

      Since 5 days we were cruising through the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea without any stop, but finally we have reached the city of Suez in Egypt. It is the south entrance of the Suez Canal connecting the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea. With the sunrise our ship started the passage of the almost 200km long canal to Port Said. The temperature dropped already and when we started in Suez at around 5:45am we only had 11 degrees left, but it became much warmer during the day. Probably our last day of summer for a while.
      The Suez Canal is also deviding Africa from Asia, what means that the huge suspension bridge we passed is the only bridge connecting Africa with Asia. Unfortunately since several years the bridge is not in use and everyone still needs to take the ferry.

      Seit 5 Tagen sind wir nun schon ununterbrochen auf dem Meer. Zunächst ging es trotz der Piraten sicher durch den Golf von Aden und dann durch das komplette Rote Meer. Gestern Nacht haben wir dann die ägyptische Stadt Suez erreicht. Gegen 5:45 Uhr, pünktlich zum Sonnenaufgang und bei nur noch 11 Grad ging es dann los mit der Passage durch den Suez Kanal. Über den Tag wurde es noch ein letztes Mal richtig warm, sodass wir die Durchfahrt in vollen Zügen vom Sonnendeck, dem Pool und aus der Wasserrutsche genießen konnten. Nach knapp 12 Stunden haben wir dann kurz vor dem Sonnenuntergang das Mittelmeer erreicht. Ohne Stop geht es jetzt weiter in Richtung Heraklion auf Kreta, wo wir hoffentlich übermorgen ankommen werden. Der Sommer ist zwar jetzt erstmal vorbei, doch die Vorfreude auf zu Hause steigt von Tag zu Tag :)
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    • Day 11

      Suez transit

      April 30, 2018 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      This morning we started the transit of the Suez Canal. I have done the transit 5 or 6 times before, but it still amazes me.
      The manpower it must have taken to dig out what is essentially a massive trench between Suez and Port Said, is gobsmacking.
      Here's a quick fun fact about the canal...
      A fleet of ships was once stranded in the canal for more than eight years.
      During June 1967’s Six Day War between Egypt and Israel, the Suez Canal was shut down by the Egyptian government and blocked on either side by mines and scuttled ships. At the time of the closure, 15 international shipping vessels were moored at the canal’s midpoint at the Great Bitter Lake. They would remain stranded in the waterway for eight years, eventually earning the nickname the “Yellow Fleet” for the desert sands that caked their decks. Most of the crewmembers were rotated on and off the stranded vessels on 3-month assignments, but the rest passed the time by forming their own floating community and hosting sporting and social events. As the years passed, the fleet even developed its own stamps and internal system of trade. The 15 marooned ships were finally allowed to leave the canal in 1975. By then, only two of the vessels were still seaworthy enough to make the voyage under their own power.
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