Hello Travelers,

I hope my first post will be useful to us all.

An agreement and deal has been set between the Egyptian Minister of Transport & the Turkish Minister of Transport to make a new Shipping line between Egypt & Turkey.

In Egyptian news papers:"The Western Harbour of Port Said has welcomed the very first Roro (Anna-Marine) coming from Turkey with 23 Trucks on-board. Anna-Marine carrying the Moldovan (158 Meters) has docked in Port-Said on the 28th of April 2012, making this the beginning of a new marine line between the 2 nations as well as linking Africa & Europe."

No news about private cars or bikes just yet, but its said that the full shipping schedule should be out this May. Lets hope for the best

Turbo
Desert Guide & Route Planner
Egypt

For those who are interested .... the RoRo Ferry Anna Marine is almost back in Mersin (Turkey) ....

life tracking

Daily Vessel's Itineraries - AIS Marine Traffic


Hope this will establish for a while ....

That's awesome news! Been struggling to find a way into Africa for a while now with the issues in Libya and Syria!

Thank-you for the info!

Hi!

Our car is currently on a Grimaldi ship from Gothenburg to Alexandria. This ship makes stops in Italy and other places on the way, should work for you as well.

Mats

Hi guys, just had a look at Anna Marine and she's currently in the Suez heading South?!

Have tried to check out Grimaldi Lines but feel they may be a regular shipping co where you put your vehicle in a container - is this the case?

What did it cost you to ship from Gothenburg to Alexandria Mats?

Preferably looking for RoRo, but she's a long way South of Port Said at the moment.

Hoping to cross the Med in November.

Any info or contacts, or costings etc would be SUPER useful - thanks!

Hello guys,
Last week i took the ferry from Mersin to Port Said. The company is called Megamar (owner is Alcor Shipping) and the ferry's called Apollonia. Here's how it goes:

- the ferry leaves on tuesdays and fridays each week.
- be at 01.00 pm on one of those days at the port in Mersin at gate A.
- call mr. Ōzer (+90543/684.23.12) and tell him you want to take this ferry. (two days before someone from the motorclub of istanbul called the agency (+90324/233.50.30) for this, because they only speak turkish. There was no reservation)
- after 1,5 hour mr. Ōzer and his english speaking colleague came to pick me up and assisted me with all the paperwork. I obviously had no idea where to go without them. I even had to make an x-ray of my motorbike.
- because of the ramadan in Egypt the ferry would leave the next day, for me on saturday. So i had to leave my bike in the harbor and went out for an hotel.
- next day i had to be there at 03.00 pm. I payed $275 for the ticket + $10 for customs. Around 09.00 pm i could drive my bike on the ferry. So make sure you have a good book to kill the time in the harbor. There is also a little shop with a restaurant.
- in the ferry i had my own 2p. room with bathroom. Very nice. Food on the ship is also included. There were two other cars, my bike and the rest were all trucks.
- i don't exactly know when the ferry left, but is was in the night of that saturday. The ferry arrived on tuesday morning 09.00h. So after 3 nights.
- in Port Said it took me three days to get my bike out of the port. I payed $400 for customs, $125 for i don't know what exactly and $17 for 'parking cost' (it was normally $25 but they converted wrong in EP). Also $15 for the visum. For two of these 3 days i had to sit and wait in a room while a guy from customs arranged all the paperwork. There was airco and a television with the olympic games + free internet i could use. So it could have been worse.
- tip: when you arrive in port said make sure they give you your passport back as quick as possible (they keep it for you to put the visum in it). Then go to the customs by yourself and not wait for them to come to you like they tell you. So maybe you will save a day.
- in total i payed $842 to get with my bike in egypt. Visum included.

Allright, that's it. Peace of cake. I hope i'll make some overlanders happy with this info.

Cheers, bert from belgium

And I forgot one important thing: Thank you Geert (user 'Catch22') for giving me the contacts for this ferry!

Excellent news..Hope entering Africa will be more easy soon for bikers.wish you happy,healthy,safe and lucky journey and adventures.hope you dont forget us.

What about the carnet de passage Egypt usually demands? Do you have one or are the $125 for a national one?

Greetings, Hans

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Seen whilst travelling - Fernwehstammtisch Karlsruhe - Relief action Togo Togoville e.V.

Thanks Berth for the detailed information and great sense of hope.

Please can you confirm that your prices are in US dollars, as that seems like quite a lot at the Egyptian end for a motorbike, while it seems quite reasonable for the fery, accommodation and food.

Also, how long are you now allowed to be in Egypt?

Also, you can answer these questions in person if you're in Cairo after the 9th Aug, when I come home from grey UK summer holidays visiting family.

Thanks again for the information, all you need to do now is take the road out of Egypt to Sudan and you'll be a legend.

James

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JT http://leeandjames2013.blogspot.hk/

Hi hans, i got my carnet de passage from belgium. You defenately should bring one. They asked for my 'triptic', and when i said i didn't had one, he looked troubled. But that was before i find out that a triptic is the carnet de passage...

James, all the prices are in US dollar, indeed. The shipping company in turkey told me i would have to pay $650 in egypt, just for the bike. The price i payed was a good price then. I can stay one month in egypt with this visum. About the motorbike i have no idea, i'm not staying longer than 2 weeks max. So we won't meet in Cairo. And about crossing the border with sudan by road, let's see what i can do

Greetings!

Thanks Berth for your useful report!
Just 3 questions:
- You said you have seen cars on this ferry: with european plates?
- Do you know the price they paid for the transportation?
- Why did buy your visa in Port Said and not in your country before departure? May be it can save time ...

RR.


Thanks Berth for your infos and experience.

Hi roro

Here the answers to your questions:

- one of those cars had a german licence plate, these people were egypt but lived in germany
- i asked him what he payed, but i forgot. I do remember that it was way more then me. And they had to pay for each person as well. It was a family of 5.
- i got my visum in egypt becuse i knew you could buy it at the border, so this looked easier for me. At the turkish side, the shipping company keeps all the passports and gives them back on the ship when the ship is in the harbor in egypt. I payed to them the $15 and they put the visum in it. So as soon as you have your passport back, your visum is ready. So maybe this would save you 1 hour if you apply for you visum at home.

Cheers, and feel free to ask more questions if needed.

Bert

Hope I don't ask a really stupid question, but WHY did you ahve to pay a few hundred USD to get your bike into Egypt?
Was that with a Carnet?

We have to get into Egypt from the south....with two bikes.
I am stil hoping/daydreaming that a pre-arranged visa and Carnets make it all nice and easy!

Hi guys, I know it's not a priority of yours but your forum is by far the most knowledgeable on Mersin to Egypt by ferry, thanks for all the useful info!

Any one know whether travelers on foot can get on the ferry Berth mentions?

Dstehouwer, i just paid this money because they asked me to. I don't know why they make it so expensive. Egypt is just a pain in the ass for bringing in your own vehicle. I met a guy who paid the same money in the port of Alexandria.

Spiritsxxi, this is a roll on/roll off service, so it's for vehicles and their drivers. But just call them. Why wouldn't they put you on the ferry if there are still rooms free? If they can make money, they'll do it i suppose... Good luck!