Arrived at the staging area around 11 pm where we anchored until about 4 am. We travel in convoys throughout the canal. Since expansion was completed in 2015 the canal can handle 97 ships a day compared with 47 previously. There are 3 convoys per day - 2 southbound and 1 northbound. We appear to be the lead in our convoy of 15 ships and are the only passenger ship today. Cost to transit the canal averages $259,000 per ship - quite a good money maker for Egypt. Most ships are tankers or container vessels . We have a local pilot on board who determines the speed we travel - between 5 and 9 knots depending on our location. He also prevents the ships from hitting any of the many markers in the canal - if a ship were to hit a marker a fine of $40,000 could be assessed.
The canal is 102 miles long with a couple bridges across it and 1 tunnel under it (1 lane in each direction). There are numerous ferries throughout the canal traveling from one side to the other. It is quite interesting that on our left is the continent of Africa and on our right is Asia.
As we exit the Suez Canal we enter the Mediterranean Sea. There are numerous ships anchored awaiting the next southbound convoy.
Pictures - one of the monuments celebrating the 2015 expansion and the north land bridge
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