Today was an early start so that we could see sunrise as we sailed through the Suez Canal. We left Port Said shortly after midnight sailing in convoy through the northern section of the canal towards the Great Bitter Lakes.
The lake acts as a holding area for vessels as the canal is only wide enough for one ship. The southbound convoy was held here for around four hours to allow the northbound convoy, 20 ships, to travel into the canal. We reached the southern end of the canal at Port Suez at sunset. The scenery en route consisted mainly of desert on the eastern side. The western side was more populated and irrigated, the main occupation being agriculture.
What struck us were the numerous heavily guarded forts along the route. At Port Suez heavily armed soldiers lined the banks of the canal every 10 metres. 50% of the world's container trade passes through the Suez Canal, all the northbound vessels heavily laden and the southbound empty.
From Port Suez, where upwards of 30 vessels were already at anchor to become the next northbound convoy, we headed south at a more vigorous pace into the Gulf of Suez towards the Red Sea and Sharm el Sheikh