Transiting the Suez Canal

Leaving Aqaba, we retraced our route back through the Gulf of Aqaba and into the Red Sea, sailing for two days before we reached the Suez Canal. At this point, since leaving Southampton, we had traveled approximately 33,000 nautical miles.

The Queen Mary had been sailing behind us for a few days, but sometime during the night she passed us. We had heard that she had been refused admittance to Aqaba because of illness onboard, which must have been devastating to the passengers who had planned to visit Petra. I would have been distraught since Petra had been the carrot John used to convince me to make this long trip.

Queen Mary 2 Taking the Lead

For the past 40 years or so, John has talked about someday traveling through the Suez Canal, specifically going east to west. You could say it was high on his bucket list. As a young Royal Marine he had made the journey west to east on a troop ship on his way to Aden. So it was with great excitement that he rose at 4:30 a.m. ready to experience something that held great wonderment for him.

Early Morning Viewers

The Suez Canal is a partially manmade waterway through Egypt that connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. It allows ships to travel between Europe and South Asia without having to sail around Africa, reducing the voyage by about 4,300 miles. Since it is at sea level, seawater flows through it and there are no locks.

The canal is owned and operated by the Suez Canal Authority of Egypt. Under the Convention of Constantinople, it can be used “in time of war, as in time of peace, by every vessel of commerce or of war, without distinction of flag.” It was completed in 1869, and like the Panama Canal, at the cost of many lives. It is about 120 miles long and enables about 50 ships per day, 25 each way, to transit the canal.

During our transit of the Suez Canal, we were third in a convoy of 25 ships, preceded by a German cruise ship, the Europa II, and then the QM2. The captain said that it was the most expensive part of our voyage, costing $750,000, which is based on the size and tonnage of the ship.

Before entering the canal, the ships in the convoy anchored overnight and got themselves into position about 4:30 a.m. We began our transit of the canal at 6:15 a.m.

The captain arranged for the front decks to be opened to passengers, so we stood at the bow and watched as the canal unfolded before us. The winds on the deck were quite chilly, and we had to pull out the cold weather clothing again. Temperatures were dropping drastically as we traveled north. A few days before we had hiked to Petra with temperatures in the 90s, and now we had temperatures in the 60s.

Entering the Canal 

The view was mainly of sun, sand, and brilliant emerald green water. As a former military man, John pointed out the frequent lookout or guard huts, police escort on the road that ran along the canal, the military installations we passed, and the ramps and pontoons on the side that could be used to cross the canal. Security was high protecting both the ships in the canal and the canal itself.

Soon after entering the canal, we looked over at the left bank, and high on a tall sandbank someone had been spelled out in large stones Egypt=Peace. This sentiment was similar to the one we heard in so many of the Middle East countries: the people don’t want the world judging them by the actions of extremists.

I focused on the people along the shore and on the ferryboats. They were probably as fascinated by the QM2 and QE as we were about them. This may have been the only time that two Cunard ships sailed through the canal together. We followed about 1.5 miles behind the QM2, close enough that with binoculars, we could see people sitting on the back deck eating lunch. With even more powerful binoculars, we might have been able to see what they were eating.

There was a real party atmosphere on the ship, and people spent the day coming and going to the front of the ship and on the side decks to watch the passing view.

The voyage through the canal was fascinating. We entered it at Port Tewfik at the city of Suez and were surprised at how close the city’s mosques and houses sat next to the walls separating the city and the canal there.

Suez, Egypt

The canal was narrow in places but widened considerably as we entered Little Bitter Lake and Great Bitter Lake. A few by-pass channels were off to the sides behind tall sand dunes to allow for ships coming from the other directions. I’m not exactly sure how that worked since we didn’t see the channels or any ships traveling south. 

We passed some ferry ports, and we could see the ferries getting ready to quickly cross the canal between the fast oncoming ships in the convoy. In addition to the ferries, the canal provides some crossing methods, including a railway swing bridge, a large highway bridge, and a highway underpass.

Ferry Crossing the Suez Canal

The view of Egypt along the canal was a study in contrasts. The west side was green and covered with cities, farms, and resorts. Desert stretched out for miles on the east side, the Sinai Peninsula, with golden sand dunes along the banks. Long stretches on the east side were piled high with sand approximately 50-60 feet high. We gathered that the sand had been piled there during the construction of some of the by-pass channels. We could see workers using heavy construction equipment loading the sand onto trucks to be hauled away. Sand blew across the flat lands, and we thought what a challenge it must be to keep the canal from silting up with sand.

Sand Along the Banks of the Canal

About mid-way through the canal, several monuments rested on the banks of the canal, one in particular was dedicated to the workers who built the canal.

Suez Canal Memorials

Memorial to Canal Workers

That evening after completing our transit of the canal and passing Port Said, we entered the Mediterranean Sea. At that point, the Queen Elizabeth pulled along side the Queen Mary, and we sailed in tandem for about three miles. The decks of both ships were lined with passengers waving their arms and Union Jacks, and from somewhere on the ship, we heard strains of Jerusalem and Land of Hope and Glory. It was as though relatives were coming together on the high seas, and we were sad to see the QM2 pull ahead and speed away.

Queen Mary 2 Sailing in Tandem With the Queen Elizabeth

QM2 Passengers and Crew on Deck

Waving the Flag