The story of how 15 ships got stuck in the Suez Canal for 8 years (8 photos)

Once 15 ships were blocked in the Suez Canal for years, but their crews did not lose heart, but, on the contrary, had fun in all imaginable and unimaginable ways!





It was back in 1967. Of course, world trade existed then, and the Suez Canal was a very popular way to "cut" and not go around Africa. And even then, the political situation in the countries neighboring the canal (the Arab-Israeli conflict) was quite tense.

One sunny June day, fifteen ships from different countries, heavily loaded with various goods, entered the Suez Canal. Little did they know that Israel had suddenly and seriously fallen out with Egypt, and as a result, the outraged descendants of the pharaohs decided to completely block the Suez Canal so that the enemy could not use it. At the entrance to this water area, as well as at the exit, ships were sunk, mixed with sea mines...

Hey, what about the fifteen ships? They were simply forgotten in all this fuss. There is a fairly wide place in the Suez Canal, which is called the Great Salt Lake. There, ships usually maneuver and wait for permission to pass through the narrow part (the same one where Ever Given got stuck). So, our heroes maneuvered and maneuvered, but permission did not come and did not come. Until they were informed by radio that, apparently, no one was sailing anywhere else.



Sunken ships at the exit of the Suez Canal, opposite Port Said

As a result, the Germans, Swedes, French, British, Americans, Poles, Bulgarians and Czechs were blocked in the Great Salt Lake. It sounds like the beginning of a joke. In fact, that's how it turned out!

At first, it seemed that the blockade would not last long, especially since the open confrontation between Israel and Egypt lasted only six days and was called the Six-Day War. However, not everything was so simple. Formally, the war ended, but in practice, the hidden confrontation continued. Egypt was in no hurry to clear the sea routes for Israel. The world community didn't really want to get into this meat grinder either, it was easier to splash through the far end of Africa.





The Yellow Fleet in the Great Bitter Lake

The crews of fifteen ships were ordered to bravely keep watch in this stupid traffic jam, wait for the situation to resolve and not deny themselves anything.

What would you do in this situation? Of course, fraternize with ships! This soon happened. The first thing the sailors did was to investigate who had what on this "uninhabited lake." It turned out that the situation was not so dire.



A surprisingly talented cook was found on the Norwegian ship, the Poles had a highly qualified doctor, the Swedes had a gym and a swimming pool, and the Germans had a cargo of fresh grapes, which they decided to immediately give to the Bulgarians so that they could make rakia from it. The British had the largest ship, on the deck of which (at the initiative of the owners themselves) you could even play football. Also on one of the ships, a cargo of beer was found, which they immediately decided to put into circulation.



And then the sailors began to visit each other, grill kebabs, throw parties, film screenings and sports competitions, and even organized their own yacht club. In October 1967, the captains of all the ships gathered on board the British MS Port Invercargill and founded the Great Bitter Lake Association. The stuck ships were named the Yellow Fleet - by that time they had managed to be thoroughly covered in yellow dust, which the wind brought from the desert.

Somewhere life went on, wars raged and the Summer of Love. And in the Suez Canal, several hundred people were stuck in the longest traffic jam in human history... "We were in a very comfortable prison," recalled the captain of the Polish ship, Miroslav Proskurnicki. "The first month was like a great vacation, the second month it got tough, and the third was just awful."



Yellow Fleet Yacht Club

There is nothing more difficult than waiting, which is unclear when it will end. Even if it takes place in the most comfortable conditions. Although who are we telling this to! It is difficult to disagree with this statement after the global lockdown!

Так вот, состояние «скоро выпустят» продолжалось для Желтого флота целый год. В 1968 году, в то лето, когда в Мексике происходила Олимпиада, капитаны кораблей решили привлечь внимание общественности к своему бедственному положению и устроили Олимпийские игры Большого Горького озера.

Всего было представлено 14 дисциплин, в число которых входили плавание, бег (по палубе британского корабля, естественно), прыжки в длину и высоту, стрельба из лука (у одного из матросов с собой был лук), футбол и даже водное поло. Победителями этой олимпиады стали поляки, немцы заняли почетное второе место, а британцы — третье.



Прыжки в высоту на Олимпиаде Большого Горького озера

Это было настолько сюрреалистическое событие, что о нем написали журналисты. Так что моряки добились своего: на их странное положение обратили внимание. Однако еще год страны — хозяйки кораблей вели переговоры об оптимизации дежурства на борту Желтого флота. Огромные торговые корабли требовали ежедневного технического обслуживания. Было принято решение, что текущие экипажи смогут отправиться домой, а на их место заступят новые матросы. Смена будет составлять три месяца.

В 1969 году пленники Суэцкого канала наконец смогли отправиться домой. Однако корабли оставались взаперти еще шесть лет! Впрочем, в формате трехмесячной вахты служба на них была больше похожа на развлекательный круиз. Рабочий день составлял всего 6 часов 5 дней в неделю, остальное время матросы развлекались, общались, катались на водных лыжах и ни в чем себе не отказывали, ведь для Желтого флота были налажены поставки свежего продовольствия и алкоголя. Один из капитанов уверял, что за это время в канал было выброшено около миллиона пивных бутылок. «Интересно, что об этом подумают археологи!» — усмехался он.

Только в 1975 году канал был снова открыт для судоходства. Лишь два корабля из Желтого флота смогли покинуть эту невероятную пробку своим ходом. Угадай, чьи это были корабли? Старательных и аккуратных немцев! Остальные суда были списаны и проданы на металлолом.