Ashkelon, Israel

Capt. S. El-Boghdadly
Chief Pilot
Transit Department
Control of Navigation
Suez Canal Authority
Ismalia, Egypt

Director General
Suez Canal Authority
Ismalia, Egypt

Dear Sir:
On April 27^th and April 28^th we transited the Suez Canal aboard our Sailboat Serenity. The first night we dropped our pilot at the dock in Ismalia.

The second day our pilot told us we were going to drop him at a dock in Port Said.  Unfortunately as we entered Port Said a Pilot Boat came screaming out and demanded cigarettes.  They did not ask for cigarettes but demanded them. 

Since we understood that we were going to drop our pilot at a dock we had given him all our remaining cigarettes and a gold pencil and a gift of money.  We had no cigarettes left – had we understood that we were going to meet a pilot boat we would never have given up all our cigarettes.

We were in neutral with the pilot boat alongside.  We were not moving.  We explained to the pilot boat that we had no cigarettes to give and when we gave them that information the pilot of the boat turned his wheel towards us, gave the pilot boat a burst of fuel and rammed us. 

This was not a mistake.  When we were in Port Suez and the gentleman who measured us for the Canal passage was brought out by a pilot boat, the pilot boat by mistake struck our outboard engine on the rail.  This was an accident and accidents happen.

The pilot boat in Port Said rammed us on purpose and damaged our fiberglass because we did not have the cigarettes they demanded.

We should have been smarter.  Our pilot put the cigarettes we gave him in his socks because he did not wish to share them with the pilot boat.

We started to call Suez Canal Authority on channel 16 and 13.  We called and called and called but nobody answered.  Why you ask?  Because we were supposed to call Port Control so nobody bothered to answer us for a long time.

We told Port Control what had happened and they were totally disinterested in what we were telling them.

They told us that it is against the Suez Canal Authority regulations to ask for Baksheesh so obviously we were not telling the truth – but eventually they agreed that we were probably telling the truth.

We asked for the names of the people we were speaking to on the radio and the names of the operator and crew of the pilot boat but we were refused the information.

Finally we were told that the boat that rammed us was Motor Launch

Eventually we received a call from a gentleman at the Port Said Yacht Club who took the same information and PROMISED us he would send us a fax at the Ashkelon Marina.

In keeping with the treatment that we received from the Suez Canal Authority he never sent us the fax that he promised to send.  Typical of the treatment we received.

Once we had cleared Port Said and we were still trying to get help we were told that the Harbormaster was at home but that the Assistant Harbormaster of Port Said would come out to see our damage if we would stop.

We hove to and waited but nobody came.  We eventually called Port Control again and they told us that we would have to return to Port Said as the Assistant Harbormaster would not come to our boat. Nobody cared that our boat had been damaged. Nobody!

We had just been rammed in Port Said.  Our boat was damaged and he was not even interested in coming to see our boat.

The repairs to our boat will cost approximately $250.00 US.  To whom do we send the bill?  We have told every cruiser that we have met in person and on the radio about our experiences and will continue to do so.  How many boats from the EMYR left Ashkelon and went to Port Said?  Check your records.  Cruisers are always passing information – good and bad back and forth.

Nobody at the Suez Canal Authority seems to care at all.  They deny that it is allowed to ask for Baksheesh if you work for the authority or to demand it as the pilot boat did.  Do you really believe this?  Please tell me no!

We visited Luxor and the Temples of Karnac and Luxor, the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, Cairo, The Pyramids, and Saqqara – among other places -  but my memories of Egypt will always be that of being rammed on purpose by a pilot boat because we were unable to give in to their demands – not requests - for cigarettes.

I guess we should be appreciative that they did not have guns aboard or our fate might have been much worse.

We were promised a reply and none was given.  This is in character with the treatment that we received by the Suez Canal Authority.

Our e-mail address is  michaelmorrell@hotmail.com   We have been cruising now for over 11 years and have visited many places and met many wonderful people.  The great majority of cruisers who have visited Egypt have similar complaints – not many were rammed it is true – but they did try to ram S/V Gabber even after us.

We hope to receive a reply and either a check for $250.00 US by return mail or an address to mail our bill for repairs.

Instead of using the Suez Canal as an opportunity for good press and sending off cruisers with a wonderful view of Egypt as messengers of the glories of Egypt you manage to make everyone angry and just glad to be out of Egypt.

I await your reply.

Michael H. Morrell, M.D
S/V Serenity
Presently at Ashkelon Marina, Israel

CC: Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt

CC: Senior Pilot Captain Farid Roushdy
Suez Canal Authority Ismalia Yacht Club
Ismalia, Egypt

Home Mailing Address:
Michael & Nancy Morrell
S/V Serenity

History