Day 107 – Sunday 27th
April 2014 – Suez Canal
At 04.00
Queen Elizabeth proceeded into the waiting area, off the Port of Suez, where we
dropped anchor to complete the formalities and confirm our position in the
primary northbound convoy.
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| Convoy |
The Suez
Canal is known to us mariners as ‘the Ditch in the Sand’. At 07.00 we were at
the entrance and second in line with a small warship ahead in the lead, and
behind us, the German cruise liner ‘Europa 2’, a car carrier, container ship,
and I could not make out the other ships at the end of the column.
The convoy
system has the northbound one leaving at 07.00, and carries on straight through
the canal, while from the north end the first convoy leaves at 01.00 and the
second at 07.00.
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| Great Bitter Lake Anchorage |
The canal is
100 miles long and at 08.30 we entered the Little Bitter Lake which is 2 miles
wide and 3 miles long. At 09.00 we were
passing through the Great Bitter lake, this is a salt water lake, where the
early morning southbound convoy was at anchor, waiting for us to pass by.
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| Crossing Point |
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| Ferry |
There are
various crossing points along the canal with small ferries transporting cars
and lorries; where ever one we passed,
there were lines of vehicles waiting to cross.
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| Ditch in the Sand |
This ditch
in the sand is another wonderful piece of engineering built over a hundred
years ago by the principal builder, Frenchman, Ferdinand De Lesseps. At the
first attempt everything was done by hand, and consequently there was a big
death toll, then with De Lesseps, and the use of mechanical diggers, the work
progressed. The house where he lived is
still there in Ismaila, a town on Lake Tamasha, half way along the canal, and
is the queen of the canal cities, with its tree shaded avenues and colonial
style houses, and still the base for the maintenance of the canal.
 |
| Army Camp |
On the left
hand side of the canal, the African side there is a lot more greenery with
irrigated fields and palms. There are a
lot of army camps and look out posts in evidence all the way along the canal,
with Bailey bridge sections waiting to be used if ever needed, in any sort of
conflict.
 |
| Deck 9 Lido |
The forward
end of the ship on deck 5 was open, so passenger could watch the transit from
there, while others took advantage of the loungers at the aft end of Deck 9, to
watch the scenery go by, and plenty of drinks to keep everyone cool.
 |
| Welcome |
 |
| War Memorial |
On the right
hand side, Sinai Peninsula is the second of the two war memorials, the first
just before Ismailia, and this one commemorating the battles which have taken
place in this area over the past years.
 |
| Township |
We passed
towns like this one with its mosque and well laid out housing, baking in the
sun on the left hand bank of the canal.
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| Railway Swing Bridge |
At 12.00 we
passed the only single track railway line crossing the canal. The original bridge was destroyed during the
1967 war, and this is the replacement.
 |
| Suspension Bridge |
 |
| Clear |
At 13.00 we
passed under the only road bridge crossing the canal which is 30 miles south of
Port Said and is 6 miles long. Built in
the 1990’s, it was most unusual, as when passing underneath, there was no
traffic what so ever using the bridge.
One explanation, maybe because of the present political situation in
Egypt, they do not want undesirables dropping things on ships as they pass
beneath. Shortly after the bridge, we
passed the second southbound convoy waiting in the designated canal lay by, as
we made our own unrestricted passage.
 |
| Port Said |
At 15.00 we
were out of the canal, and made the passage at an average speed of 12 knots,
and I was very impressed by how the convoy system now worked.
It had been
a smooth and very relaxing passage for us; all the way along when approaching
or passing places of interest, we had a running commentary from the bridge.
Now in the
Mediterranean Sea and feeling a little more relaxed, as we had made it through
one of the bottlenecks in our journey.
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