Tuesday, May 7th
I hope you noticed that I put two postings on blog yesterday: Wadi Rum AND Sharm El-Sheikh. Today we are transiting the Suez Canal on our way to Israel. We have been watching Fox New's reporting on the Israeli's bombing of Damascus, the Syrian capital. Wondering what reprisals the Syrians may take. Probably not the best time to be spending 3 days in Israel. We'll be there Wed, Thurs, and Friday. Hope we CAN get in there as seeing the Christian sites in Israel is one of the main reasons we chose this cruise itinerary. Before I tell you about the Suez Canal and post those photos, here are a few I took yesterday evening while in Red Sea.
Taken as we left port of Sharm El-Sheikh
Offshore well in Red Sea
Our position in the Suez Canal this morning.
SUEZ CANAL
The Suez Canal is a sea-level Egyptian waterway running between the Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea. It was completed in 1869 after 10 years of construction but has been enlarged several times since. It is now 120 miles long, 79 feet deep, and 673 feet wide. It is a single lane with passing places in two locations. There are no locks in it as water passes freely between the two seas. It allows transportation between Europe and Asia without having to sail all the way around Africa. Presently, the Suez can handle more and larger ships than the Panama Canal. That will change in 2015 when the second and larger lane opens in Panama. The average cost per ship to transit the Suez Canal is $251,000. Our Captain says Regent is paying about $300,000 for our transit. This is because we have "azipods" as means of propulsion unlike cargo ships. So the Egyptian Canal Authority mandates that we must have two tugs, one in front of us and one behind, while going through the canal. The tugs cost $25,000 each so that is why we are paying more than other ships. Just like the Panama Canal, the Suez Canal runs north-south. Bet you thought they ran east-west! There are 3 "convoys" of ships transiting the canal every day: one north bound and two southbound. As we are now in the canal, it appears that the spacing between ships in the convoy is about 1 mile.
Not exactly what time this morning we began our transit but when I got up shortly after 7am, we were in the canal. I went out on our balcony and had to come back in and put on a long sleeved shirt as it was quite cool. The Suez is so much different than the Panama Canal. Obviously, no jungles for one thing and certainly not as humid here. There is a sand levee but I think that is from sand dredged from canal to keep it clear. Also there is a big military presence all along the canal. We are passing several small military bases and guard shacks, of sorts, are spaced about every quarter mile or so. There may be one guard of groups of soldiers. They seem to be rag-tag looking as their uniforms are not sharp looking and worn like OUR military. Several of them whistle as we pass by and one was even yelling, "Welcome!". Sandra Bowern, our expert lecturer, is on bridge as we transit today giving information about the canal and our transit over a tv channel in our suite. So I will be adding things as she describes them. There are 15 ships going northbound in our convoy and we are #4 in it and the only cruise ship. We are now entering The Great Bitter Lake in the canal so are 1/3 of the way through the canal. There is some fog over lake so visibility is reduced but that will be burning off soon. The southbound convoy is parked here waiting for us to pass by before they continue south. Just before the lake we passed by a small peninsula sticking out and on end WAS the vacation home of the ex-Egyptian president, Mubarak. He is in prison now.
The canal cuts through the desert. On the Sinai side, right side of ship as we proceed northbound, is barren and actually desert. On our side, the port side (left), there is a "green band" along the canal with farming and villages. The farms are quite small so everything is done manually. No machinery, just hand labor and donkeys to haul things.
Not long after passing the Great Bitter Lake, the farms gave way to more desert like conditions and less houses. It was still green though with date palms, coconut trees, and olive trees. The military was still there but further apart. It is my opinion that the big military presence is to protect the canal from any land based terrorist attack on shipping. The last thing Egypt wants is for a ship to be sunk in the canal and then block it. They would then lose about the only money they get--the $15 million a day from the canal. We have passed by the city of Ismailia which is the half way point of the Suez Canal. It was a very large city and actually where the Muslim Brotherhood party originated. Also located there is the "Bayonet Monument" which is a monument to the 19 day 1973 Arab-Israeli (Yom Kippur) War.
The Captain at noon said we should reach the Mediterranean Sea around 3:30pm. Our speed through the canal is restricted to 9 mph to help reduce erosion of the banks caused by the wakes of the large ships. He also said the outside air temperature at noon was 79F. We just passed a swing railroad bridge. At 1100 feet in length, it is the world's longest, steel swing bridge. Obviously the bridge swings out over the canal when a train is to cross. Occasionally, there are barges that look like WWII LST's aground on the canal banks. They were built in Russia and are used to get equipment across to the Sinai. We have also passed a couple ferries docks that can handle cars, buses, and trucks as well as people. We also went under a huge bridge for vehicles that crosses the canal and connects the Sinai peninsula with mainland Egypt. It is now about 3pm and we have been cruising past irrigated farms for the past hour. There is also a very busy highway now on our port side that parallels the canal. We are getting close to end of the canal at Port Said.
In the Suez canal. Our suite and balcony are on the port (right) side of the ship so Egypt is on our side and the Sinai peninsula is on the starboard (left) side. Glad we are on port side as there is nothing on Sinai side except desert sand. Poor Moses and Exodist the Jewish people endured. We had most all of the good views today and sun was on other side so helped with my photos.
Some local Egyptians on bank.
Some farm houses along bank
Military
Farmer working in garden in the morning time.
Some barley or wheat being harvested by hand.
Russian made pontoons for transporting equipment to other side of the canal.
Morning briefing to army by their commander.
Another group being briefed.
Nice house. Cheap rent I bet!
Hard to see but there is a man riding a small donkey in center of photo.
Small plots of farm land probably owned by different farmers.
Dredge but not in use today.
Couple of fishing boats. Oar power no motors.
Small city and tower is water tower.
These guys are rowing like hell to get out of way of our tug boat.
Military base and the bunker buildings are for helicopters.
Can make out a troop helicopter here. This base was near where ex-President Mubarak had his vacation home.
Photos showing the vacation home of Mubarak.
Ships off to side waiting for our convoy to pass so they could continue southbound.
Another military installation. There were many along the canal.
Looking through my binoculars, the sign said this was a sporting center.
New construction. Not sure what it will be.
Monument to WWII soldiers. Over 100,000 men were stationed here during the war.
City of Ismailia. Half way point of canal. It was quite a large city.
Bayonet Monument to those who died in 1973 Arab-Israel War.
Ship that was ahead of us in the convoy. Note second of our two tugs. One in front and one behind.
Ship behind us
Beach but not private one. This is a military beach.
Appears to be a very nice home on the canal.
Ferry
Another nice home
Interesting photo as it is of mosque next to a Christian church.
Other tug following us
Fisherman is putting his net out while other rows.
This is half of the longest (1100 feet) swing span bridge in the world. Other half on other side.
You can see the train track in middle of the photo that bridge connects to when swung in place over the canal.
Al Salam bridge--only one that crosses the canal.
Irrigated farms as we neared the canals end at Port Said.
It's 5pm now and we are indeed in the Mediterranean Sea heading for the tightly controlled arrival lanes into Israeli waters. We are scheduled to be at the pier in Haifa at 7am tomorrow. We have a 10 hour tour, "Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee" tomorrow at 8:20am. Tour the following day is a 12 hour one so no blog postings for a few days. Our next day at sea is on the 15th! Today was a GREAT day in the Suez Canal.
https://goo.gl/photos/qcsK2vpCJYAzdiuZ8
I hope you noticed that I put two postings on blog yesterday: Wadi Rum AND Sharm El-Sheikh. Today we are transiting the Suez Canal on our way to Israel. We have been watching Fox New's reporting on the Israeli's bombing of Damascus, the Syrian capital. Wondering what reprisals the Syrians may take. Probably not the best time to be spending 3 days in Israel. We'll be there Wed, Thurs, and Friday. Hope we CAN get in there as seeing the Christian sites in Israel is one of the main reasons we chose this cruise itinerary. Before I tell you about the Suez Canal and post those photos, here are a few I took yesterday evening while in Red Sea.
SUEZ CANAL
The Suez Canal is a sea-level Egyptian waterway running between the Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea. It was completed in 1869 after 10 years of construction but has been enlarged several times since. It is now 120 miles long, 79 feet deep, and 673 feet wide. It is a single lane with passing places in two locations. There are no locks in it as water passes freely between the two seas. It allows transportation between Europe and Asia without having to sail all the way around Africa. Presently, the Suez can handle more and larger ships than the Panama Canal. That will change in 2015 when the second and larger lane opens in Panama. The average cost per ship to transit the Suez Canal is $251,000. Our Captain says Regent is paying about $300,000 for our transit. This is because we have "azipods" as means of propulsion unlike cargo ships. So the Egyptian Canal Authority mandates that we must have two tugs, one in front of us and one behind, while going through the canal. The tugs cost $25,000 each so that is why we are paying more than other ships. Just like the Panama Canal, the Suez Canal runs north-south. Bet you thought they ran east-west! There are 3 "convoys" of ships transiting the canal every day: one north bound and two southbound. As we are now in the canal, it appears that the spacing between ships in the convoy is about 1 mile.
Not exactly what time this morning we began our transit but when I got up shortly after 7am, we were in the canal. I went out on our balcony and had to come back in and put on a long sleeved shirt as it was quite cool. The Suez is so much different than the Panama Canal. Obviously, no jungles for one thing and certainly not as humid here. There is a sand levee but I think that is from sand dredged from canal to keep it clear. Also there is a big military presence all along the canal. We are passing several small military bases and guard shacks, of sorts, are spaced about every quarter mile or so. There may be one guard of groups of soldiers. They seem to be rag-tag looking as their uniforms are not sharp looking and worn like OUR military. Several of them whistle as we pass by and one was even yelling, "Welcome!". Sandra Bowern, our expert lecturer, is on bridge as we transit today giving information about the canal and our transit over a tv channel in our suite. So I will be adding things as she describes them. There are 15 ships going northbound in our convoy and we are #4 in it and the only cruise ship. We are now entering The Great Bitter Lake in the canal so are 1/3 of the way through the canal. There is some fog over lake so visibility is reduced but that will be burning off soon. The southbound convoy is parked here waiting for us to pass by before they continue south. Just before the lake we passed by a small peninsula sticking out and on end WAS the vacation home of the ex-Egyptian president, Mubarak. He is in prison now.
The canal cuts through the desert. On the Sinai side, right side of ship as we proceed northbound, is barren and actually desert. On our side, the port side (left), there is a "green band" along the canal with farming and villages. The farms are quite small so everything is done manually. No machinery, just hand labor and donkeys to haul things.
Not long after passing the Great Bitter Lake, the farms gave way to more desert like conditions and less houses. It was still green though with date palms, coconut trees, and olive trees. The military was still there but further apart. It is my opinion that the big military presence is to protect the canal from any land based terrorist attack on shipping. The last thing Egypt wants is for a ship to be sunk in the canal and then block it. They would then lose about the only money they get--the $15 million a day from the canal. We have passed by the city of Ismailia which is the half way point of the Suez Canal. It was a very large city and actually where the Muslim Brotherhood party originated. Also located there is the "Bayonet Monument" which is a monument to the 19 day 1973 Arab-Israeli (Yom Kippur) War.
The Captain at noon said we should reach the Mediterranean Sea around 3:30pm. Our speed through the canal is restricted to 9 mph to help reduce erosion of the banks caused by the wakes of the large ships. He also said the outside air temperature at noon was 79F. We just passed a swing railroad bridge. At 1100 feet in length, it is the world's longest, steel swing bridge. Obviously the bridge swings out over the canal when a train is to cross. Occasionally, there are barges that look like WWII LST's aground on the canal banks. They were built in Russia and are used to get equipment across to the Sinai. We have also passed a couple ferries docks that can handle cars, buses, and trucks as well as people. We also went under a huge bridge for vehicles that crosses the canal and connects the Sinai peninsula with mainland Egypt. It is now about 3pm and we have been cruising past irrigated farms for the past hour. There is also a very busy highway now on our port side that parallels the canal. We are getting close to end of the canal at Port Said.
The convoy behind us. We are #4 in the convoy.
It's 5pm now and we are indeed in the Mediterranean Sea heading for the tightly controlled arrival lanes into Israeli waters. We are scheduled to be at the pier in Haifa at 7am tomorrow. We have a 10 hour tour, "Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee" tomorrow at 8:20am. Tour the following day is a 12 hour one so no blog postings for a few days. Our next day at sea is on the 15th! Today was a GREAT day in the Suez Canal.
https://goo.gl/photos/qcsK2vpCJYAzdiuZ8
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