Shortly before 04.00 we put the brakes on and moved with a slow speed towards the pilot station. The situation in front of the entrance channel to the port can be quite hectic; you approach the port by sailing through ships at anchor and you also meet various ships coming out of the port. The latter are hardly visible as the skyline of Alexandria is lit up like a Christmas tree by the numerous oil and gas refineries in the port area. The port is stretched along the coast from SW to NE and protected by a long breakwater. The entrance is on the SW side directly in line with those refineries so it is very difficult to see any ship movement against the lit up sky line. Finding the entrance itself is not so difficult, last autumn a container ship had a black out during a North Westerly gale and was blown onto the banks just to the west of the fairway. Thus as soon as you get the echo of that wreck on the radar you also know where the entrance is. Once you have the ship lined up for the fairway to the entrance, called the Great Pass, then there is a very nice set of leading lights to guide you in.
This time it was reasonably quiet with ships. There were several at anchor but they had left a nice clear corridor to the pilot station and thus we trundled in with ease. The pilot was on time and before we knew it we were heading toward the port entrance. Perfect timing as it was getting dawn but the sun was still under the horizon, so we had a good view of the port while not being hampered with having the sun in our eyes. The port itself is a mixed bag of shipping. Cargo ships along the docks, ships at anchor inside either waiting for a dock, laid up or derelict. A number of half submerged wrecks were seen on the side of the breakwater and a number of navy ships in the northerly corner of the dock. In the far end there is a shipyard and within the dock is the AIDA IV, which is not a ship from See tours but a local passenger ship.
Alexandria Cruise Terminal.
Also present and sitting as a nice white swan among the gray war ships was the old royal yacht of King Farouk of Egypt. When Nasser took over, the yacht was kept and it is still there and looked in good condition. It did cruises for awhile but I do not know if it is still employed as such. This is the sea going yacht I am mentioning as the king also had several Royal Nile Yachts and those still make cruises. At least according to the all-knowing information provided by Google. Next to it was a smaller version with a nice clipper bow and a good sheer but the white hull was quite dilapidated. It was too far away to see the name. We docked straight across from those ships at the Alexandria cruise terminal. Looking at the building it has been constructed not that long ago but it already showed signs of wear and tear. According to the pilot that is mainly due to the great temperature differences between summer and winter and day and night. That makes it very difficult for plaster and other wall coverings to remain attached to the walls without constant upkeep. Still we did not have to dock at a cargo dock and that was a great improvement from the past.
Today we have a number of guests leaving on the overland tour and they will rejoin the ship tomorrow in Port Said. Most of the other guests will be gone for the whole day on one of the many tours linked to the rich history of Egypt. The crew tours are going as well, as I mentioned in one of my previous blogs, except that we had to cancel the Indonesian crew tours in Israel. Indonesia and Israel do not have diplomatic relations and because of this reason we were unable to obtain landing permits for the Indonesian crew. A sad affair, but how hard we try on a cruise ship, every day politics do sometimes interfere with our cruising.
The NE/SW lay out of the port and out departure route (red line)
For tonight I will have to put the “after burners” on as it is a tight stretch to Port Said. I had planned a 06.00 pilot station call for a 0700 docking, but the agent advised us that this time we had to arrive ahead of the first Suez Canal convoy. We were not allowed to sail in, in-between the ships going in. That means that I have to be there at 04.30 in the morning and that pushes up my average speed considerably.
Still the weather looks good, no wind or rain expected and the temperatures are to remain quite low tomorrow and that means perfect sightseeing weather. The Gods are with us again; now we have to hope that the Suez Canal scheduling is as well.
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