There are several shipping canals in the world, crossing which on a yacht turns into a real adventure. Interparus will tell you about how yachtsmen passed the Suez Canal.
The Suez Canal has become a less popular route for yachtsmen on their round-the-world voyages in recent years, mainly due to piracy and tensions in the region. And while Somali pirates may not seem like the same scourge they were in the 2000s, recent Houthi attacks near Yemen have changed that.
Yachtsmen heading from Asia to Europe (or vice versa) today have two options for such a journey. Both are dangerous: rounding the Cape of Good Hope is a challenge due to weather conditions, and passing through the Suez Canal is fraught with encounters with armed untrustworthy elements.

Source: sailingblackmoon.nl
There is a third option, namely, to use the services of yacht delivery to the desired region. This is the safest way to move from Europe to Asia at the moment. On the other hand, yacht delivery is an expensive process and can take quite a while.
Yachting World told the story of the crew of the yacht Black Moon, which made such a journey relatively recently. Together with the author of the article Ben Lowings, we will try to figure out why the yacht crew decided to go through the Suez Canal and what awaited the yachtsmen along the way.
Warning: The article is for informational purposes only and is not a call to action. The situation in the Middle East is currently unstable, so we urge you to refrain from traveling to this region.
Why the Suez Canal anyway?
Black Moon is a small 10-metre Bermuda sloop (i.e. the most common type of sailboat today). The boat is registered in Holland and the crew, consisting of Greetje Tops and her partner Niels, planned to return home via the Suez Canal. At that time, Black Moon was at the very beginning of a 5-year round-the-world voyage.

While the plan to return home was still in motion, the crew learned of the first Houthi attacks. At that point, Black Moon was in Indonesia. Greetje and Niels began planning: the only option was the long way home via Cape Town, South Africa. However, the small sailboat needed serious preparation for such a journey. According to the team’s calculations, it would take about a year to refit the boat. The couple could not wait that long.
The young men say they simply followed their intuition, although they admit it was a bit irresponsible. According to them, all the sailors they knew warned them about the dangers, but Greetje and Nils decided to try their luck.
Preparation and risk
To give themselves some peace of mind, the Black Moon crew decided that their best option would be to travel in a small convoy. In April 2024, Black Moon sailed from Indonesia to Djibouti, where they sailed north with four other boats to the canal. Due to strong winds, the journey from Djibouti took six weeks. Black Moon made five stops in Sudan and six more in Egypt before entering the canal.

Source: sailingblackmoon.nl
According to Greetje and Niels, the most important thing is to prepare in advance and contact an agent. An agent is an authorized person who, for an additional fee, will help to pass the channel. The team contacted him in Thailand, that is, several months before arriving at the starting point.
The Suez Canal itself is not a dangerous place. However, the approach from the southern side of the canal is a completely different matter. It is there, starting from Djibouti and almost to the very entrance of the canal, that pirate attacks occur. Yachtsmen advise: avoid the entire coast of Yemen and Eritrea. To the north, in the waters of Sudan and Egypt, it is already much calmer. Starting from the city of Jeddah to the Suez Canal there are still 600 nautical miles, but this distance can already be passed relatively calmly.
More about port entry and security
The Black Moon team met with the legal agent in Djibouti who organized the call at the ports of Sudan and Saudi Arabia. In this case, the agent acts as a maritime lawyer. He prepared the documents and obtained permissions for unimpeded entry into the ports. Due to the distances and possible delays along the way, local ports must be notified in advance that a yacht or merchant vessel is planning a call.

Source: sailingblackmoon.nl
The Red Sea is patrolled by US ships and aircraft. To ensure safe passage through the region, the Black Moon crew also contacted a so-called “military intermediary,” which acts as an armed coast guard. Every morning, Greetje and Niels emailed the military intermediary with the yacht’s coordinates and direction of travel, as well as the number of people on board. This is how the crew reached Jeddah, which we wrote about above.
At the entrance to the Suez Canal
Finally, the hour X arrived. Black Moon met with a transit agent named Captain Hibi. Hibi is popularly known as the Prince of the Red Sea. Hibi helped the team with the paperwork for transit through the canal and walked them through all the necessary procedures. This process does not involve bribes - transit agents like Hibi will literally walk you by the hand through all the necessary offices for an additional fee, but you will communicate with the officers yourself.

Source: sailingblackmoon.nl
An important point is the peculiarities of passing border control of a vessel or yacht. Egypt has a complex bureaucratic system, failure to comply with the rules of which promises large fines. For example, without passing immigration control, which, by the way, is not obligatory in Egypt, you cannot use a tender or go ashore within the Gulf of Suez. An attempt to do so can result in a huge fine.
You will be shown and told where the permitted moorings are, but there is a high risk of mooring in the wrong place. Greetje and Nils warn that you need to be extremely careful when choosing a mooring place. The most unpleasant thing is when, due to ignorance, the yacht stops in the wrong place and border guards appear almost immediately. In most cases, such meetings end with bribes.
Passing through Suez
The Suez Canal is about 80 miles long. According to the rules, a sailing yacht can only navigate this route under engine power during daylight hours. Most boats under these conditions would have to spend several days crossing the canal.
On the way through the canal is the city of Ismailia, where there is a transit area for yachts with showers and shops. Here the Black Moon team replenished supplies. However, Nils emphasizes that yachtsmen on transit boats are allowed to stay only on the territory of the marina. Going beyond its boundaries is considered a violation of the law.

Source: sailingblackmoon.nl
Sailing yachts also require customs clearance to leave Ismailia. A pilot must accompany the boat when leaving the port. Failure to do so carries a fine of $10,000. Black Moon waited three days for a pilot and the weather to clear.
Finally, when Port Said was behind them and the escort had gone home, Greetje and Niels breathed a sigh of relief – Crete was ahead and the hardest part of their journey was behind them.
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It's been a long time since we had good old reviews on our channel. This time Sasha Goron will tell you about one of the most interesting versions of the Aura 51 catamaran – Double Maestro. Enjoy watching!
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01.10.2024
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