Transit through the Suez Canal

Last night we anchored up with many other ships ready for the convoy through the canal this morning. It was interesting to see all the twinkling lights around us.

At 6 o’clock this morning we set sail as number 3 in a convoy of 25 ships to travel north to the Mediterranean Sea. Ahead of us were the Europa 2, which was docked next to us in Aqaba, and the Queen Mary 2 who should have been a day behind us, but has the dreaded norovirus and was refused permission to dock at Aqaba. The following ships, as far as I could see, were container ships and tankers.

The 120 miles journey took 10hrs. Extra decks were opened, so that there was more space for passengers to view without being squashed. This is the first time that we have travelled through, so was a very new experience. There are no locks to transit and there has been considerable work on widening the canal. There are sections where there are separate channels for the north & south bound traffic. I didn’t have time to do my preholiday homework, because of the ‘flu. So when I get home I need to find out lots of info.

It was interesting seeing life and developments on both sides of the canal. Whilst the big ships sailed up the middle, ferries crossed back and forwards in the gaps and small rowing boats carrying 2 or 3 fishermen went about their work.


After we got into the Med we did a “sail by” with the Queen Mary 2 for about 3 miles, with passengers on both ships waving, and the boys or girls on the horns making noises!!! There are some more pics in Extras.