Sailing Through the Suez Canal

DAY 90 – April 5, 2011 -It takes approximately 12 hours to pass through the Suez Canal from the Red Sea in the south to the Mediterranean Sea in the north, and we had a beautiful, sunny and brisk 61-degree day to make this passage.

Because the Mediterranean and Red Seas are at the same level, there are no locks in the Suez Canal.  The Canal opened in 1896 and it took 11 years to construct the waterway for the Canal.  It is only 210 feet at its widest point, and it is a very shallow 53 feet deep.

Ships must travel through the Suez Canal at a maximum speed of 8 knots per hour.  Any faster and the wake of the ship will break down the slightly fortified sandy banks of the Canal.  The Canal is only wide enough for ships to go through one way, so groups of ships have to alternate between south bound and north bound.

The average toll for one ship to go through the Canal is $205,600…and 80 ships can go through the Canal every day.  The alternative?  Going around Africa and the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa…an additional 7,350 miles and many, many additional days of sailing!

The Canal is obviously a big money maker for Egypt, so it is important to keep the Canal protected, dredged and maintained so the flow of ships is not interrupted in any way.

Here are some photos of the exciting day we experienced as we made this voyage:

We sailed through the Red Sea the day before we got into line for our early 6:00 a.m. start on our 11-hour passage through the Suez Canal.  We kept passing many, many oil platforms working off the coasts of Egypt just like this one.  We anchored overnight in front of the Canal to be sure we were near the beginning of the line of vessels to go through the Canal.

Our Suez Canal Pilot climbed aboard our ship in the morning to guide us half way through the Canal, and another Pilot met us half way to guide us on out to the end of the Canal in the Mediterranean Sea.

In the early morning light it is difficult to see, but we had 30-40 large cargo ships lined up behind us waiting for their time slot to pass through the Canal.

The closer we got to the entrance to the Suez Canal, the appearance of armed posts to protect the canal started to increase…there were Egyptian Army posts like this every 1/4 mile all along the Canal!

Look closely and you will see an armed soldier in camouflage fatigues outside of his tent and guard station.  Protection of the Canal is paramount.

There were Egyptian tanks as well…and the soldiers all waved happily at us because we were one of the first few cruise ships to bring tourists back to their country after they gained their newly found freedom!

In addition to the military posts, Egyptian Air Force helicopters flew overhead as they patrolled the Canal area to look for any potential problems.

The Canal had some huge welcoming signs in the sand along the route…and soldiers would chant together “Welcome to Egypt” and wave enthusiastically at us as we glided by with hundreds of the people on our ship waving back to them as we were standing on our outer decks.

There are three ways to cross over the Suez Canal…by ferry, by rail, and by roadway.  This is the only railroad bridge that pivots from both sides of the Canal and meets in the middle of the Canal so trains can go west to east over the water.  The timing between ships has to be perfect to make this happen!

  This is the only roadway bridge over the Canal…with a one-mile approach on both sides and cables to support the bridge that is 200 feet in the air.  Japan sent money to Egypt to help them build this bridge.

This photo shows the bow flag of our ship and the sides of the Suez Canal…the western side is green from fields irrigated by the Nile River…the eastern side is bare sand dunes of the Sinai desert.  Our ship is approaching the suspension bridge shown above with a roadway for trucks, buses, and passenger vehicles.

And somehow, even with all of the armed guards and monitoring,  local fishermen were permitted along the edges of the Canal with their nets!

And finally, the grand finale!  We reached the end of the 101-mile Suez Canal a little before 5:00 p.m. and sailed into the gorgeous blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea, with ships waiting to enter the Canal going South the next morning…all lined up as far as you can see on the horizon.