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A ship, unable to leave the Suez Canal, can be seen, anchored, in the background (pictured in 1973)

Between 1967 and 1975, fifteen ships were trapped in the Suez Canal after the Six-Day War between Israel and Egypt. The ships became known as the Yellow Fleet because of their appearance from desert sand swept onboard.

During the war, Egypt blocked both ends of the canal to prevent its use by Israel. Scuttled ships, sea mines, and other debris continued to block transport through the canal until the wake of the Yom Kippur War, after which the blockade was lifted. A 1974 clearance operation enabled the ships to leave, after eight years of being stranded.

History

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In June 1967 the fifteen ships were sailing northwards through the Suez Canal as a war broke out between Israel and Egypt in what was to become known as the Six-Day War. Both ends of the canal were closed, and after three days it became apparent that the canal would remain blocked for some time as a result of the scuttling of ships to block its passage. Fourteen ships were forced to anchor in the widest part of the Suez Canal, the Great Bitter Lake. Some of the scuttled ships cut off the SS Observer from the other ships and it had to anchor in Lake Timsah.[1]

Ships, dredgers, other floating craft and even a bridge were sunk to block the canal.[2] In addition to the vessels that were sunk, there were a number of sea mines that prevented navigation. With the war having left the Israelis in possession of the entire east bank of the canal, the Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser quickly resolved to keep the canal closed to all shipping indefinitely. The only alternative would have been allow the Israelis to use it, which was anathema to the Egyptian government. Even if the political issues surrounding the canal could have somehow been resolved, its maintenance would have been economically nonviable since very few (if any) shippers would have been willing to send their vessels and crews through what was effectively a no man's land in an active combat zone.

Throughout the eight years, the Israeli and Egyptian armies faced off against each other on either side of the Suez Canal. Sometimes raiding parties from both sides would slip across the canal to carry out intelligence gathering missions.[1] One of the big concerns was that the canal would become silted up without regular dredging. It turned out to be a non-issue as 90 per cent of the silt is a result of currents caused by the turning of ships' propellers, which was virtually non-existent during this period.[1]

In October 1967, the officers and crews of all fourteen ships met on the Melampus to found the "Great Bitter Lake Association" which provided mutual support. Crew members continued to regularly meet on board their ships, organized social events, founded a yachting club and held the "Bitter Lake Olympic Games" to complement the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Life boat races were arranged and soccer games were played on the largest ship, the MS Port Invercargill, while church services were held on the West German motorship Nordwind and movies were shown on the Bulgarian freighter Vasil Levsky.[1] The Swedish Killara had a pool.[3]

In time, it was possible to reduce the number of crew members on board the ships, and in 1969 the ships were gathered into several groups to further reduce the number of crew necessary for their upkeep. Those crew that were left to maintain the vessels were rotated every three months. In 1972, the last crew members of the German ships were finally sent home, with the maintenance of the ships left to a Norwegian company.

A postal system evolved, the hand-crafted postage stamps of which became collectors' items around the world. The Egyptian postal authority recognized the stamps, allowing their use worldwide.[1] In terms of the postal system, this resulted in the creation of group stamps such as:

Group name Abbreviation
"Müwinikies" Mü = MS Münsterland
Wi = MS Nordwind
Ni = MS Nippon
Ki = MS Killara
Es = MS Essayons
"Ledmelaga" Led = MS Lednice
Mel = MS Melampus
Aga = MS Agapenor
"Djabiporst" Dja = MS Djakarta
Bi = MS Boleslaw Bierut
Por = MS Port Invercargill
St = MS Scottish Star

In early 1975, the Suez Canal was once again opened for international transport, and on 24 May 1975, the German ships Münsterland and Nordwind finally reached Hamburg port, cheered by more than 30,000 spectators. They were reportedly the only ships to have returned to their home port under their own power. For the Münsterland this was the end of a voyage to Australia which had lasted eight years, three months and five days.[4]

In the 2010s, there has been renewed interest in this unusual story. Two books have appeared that chronicle the 8-year sojourn of the ships in the Great Bitter Lake, Acht Jahre gefangen im Großen Bittersee by Hans Jürgen Witthöft, in German (2015)[5]; and Stranded in the Six-Day War by Cath Senker, in English (2017).[6][7]

Stranded ships

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Name Nationality Owner Captain Cargo Gross tonnage References
MS Nordwind West Germany Nordstern Reederei Gerhard Lomer T-shirts 8,656 [3]
MS Münsterland West Germany Hamburg America Line Karl Hoffmann, replaced by Jürgen Katzler, Wolfgang Scharrnbeck Eggs, fruit 9,365 [8][9]
MS Killara Sweden Rederiaktiebolaget Transatlantic Sture Sundnér Wool, hides, fruit, lead, pigs from Australia 12,990 [10]
MS Nippon Sweden Svenska Ostasiatiska Kompaniet Arthur Bjuréus, Ulf Bergman​（瑞典語） Case goods from Far East 10,660
MS Essayons[A 1] France 7,051
MS Agapenor United Kingdom Blue Funnel Line Plastic toys for Woolworths 7,654 [11][12][13]
MS Melampus United Kingdom Blue Funnel Line Jim Starkey 8,509 [12][14]
MS Scottish Star United Kingdom Blue Star Line Brian McManus 10,174 [11][12]
MS Port Invercargill United Kingdom Port Line Arthur Kensett 10,463 [12][15]
SS African Glen[A 2] United States Farrell Lines 6,116
MS Djakarta Poland Polish Ocean Lines 6,915
MS Boleslaw Bierut Poland Polish Ocean Lines Bogdan Kryspin 6,674
MS Vasil Levsky Bulgaria Navigation Maritime 4,975
MS Lednice Czechoslovakia Československá plavba dunajská (Czechoslovak Danube Shipping)[16] Klement Benda, Ladislav Šlechta[17] Raw cowhides from Ethiopia 1,462 [18][19]
SS Observer[A 3] United States Marine Carriers Corp. Charles Kapelowitz Wheat (Galveston to Bombay) 17,614 [1]

See also

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  • Ever Given, a container ship that blocked the canal in March 2021

Annotations

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  1. ^ ex Sindh
  2. ^ Sunk in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War
  3. ^ Was stranded in Lake Timsah

Notes

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  1. ^ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Time 1969
  2. ^ Pearson & Anderson 1975，第67頁
  3. ^ 3.0 3.1 Blair 1975
  4. ^ Hamburg damals: Gefangen im Bittersee. NDR. 24 May 2020 （德語）. 
  5. ^ „Acht Jahre gefangen im Großen Bittersee“ [Trapped in the Great Bitter Lake for 8 years]. DVZ. 17 December 2015 （德語）. 
  6. ^ Meet the searfarers who were stranded in the Six-Day War. The Express. 3 June 2017. 
  7. ^ Stranded in the Suez Canal. National Museums Liverpool. 
  8. ^ Kapitäne erzählen: Gefangen im Suezkanal. 17 May 2008 –透過Spiegel Online. 
  9. ^ mare — Startseite. www.mare.de. 
  10. ^ New Zealand Maritime Index 1969
  11. ^ 11.0 11.1 BBC 2010
  12. ^ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Lee 2010
  13. ^ Frickers 2009
  14. ^ merchantnavyofficers.com 2011
  15. ^ http://www.chrisjclarke.net/cjcbhftp/Allhands/Summer%202001/Great%20Biter%20lakes.htm
  16. ^ Československá plavba dunajská (ČSPD) | Historie ČNP. www.namorniplavba.cz. 
  17. ^ Jindra, Zdenek. Nepokojný Egypt — Filatelie, poštovní známky, známka, magazín o filatelii — Infofila.cz. www.infofila.cz. 
  18. ^ http://www.hajoregiszter.hu/hajoadatlap/atiranyitott_oldal/1849/kronologia#kepek
  19. ^ plavba.net. ww3.plavba.net. 

References

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  • Ian Russel. Melampus in Suez. The Blue Funnel Line 1866–1986. [6 September 2010]. 
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