@rupertu.
03,28 am here and still awake .. waited for the result of official government meeting about this problem..east meditarrenean area is still not completely safe for passenger ships..problem between israel and iran continues and many warships in the area..(British,İran,Israel,Russian,USA,Italian,Fr ench and Turkish)

Thats why this line is hung up since beginning of december-2011 even all international agreements are signed..

Tomorrow before 5 pm.will call or visit the ship company main office again to learn the last situation for feb.27. first start.The company promised to call and send an Email when there is a development.

All contact numbers are already given.English speaking person available in agents also.
I will scan and write all here.

Fingers crossed for now.Good night all.

Hello to all who are desperately waiting for the ferry boat.

We know the name and the data of the ship, so its possible to track its position from a website. I have appended some links for you and I can't tell you how reliable the data are, but according to this MV Ruzgar is still parking near of Piraeus. There was no movement during the last days:

Live Ships Map - AIS - Vessel Traffic and Positions

AIS Tracker - AIS - iidesk

Shiptracking.eu - Real time ship traffic

RUZGAR - mmsi: 248858000

Ruzgar — 9HA2550 — position and weather

This is a very useful tool, thanks.... we cannot wait for this Ghost ship anymore and will have to pay full whack to get on a Grimandi RoRo in Alex tomorrow and get my bike to the KTM garage in Mersin. Takes 5 days. We'll fly to Adana or istanbul

Thanks,

We are now in Mersin, spending days and days at a very helpful shipping agency. Shipping a car like ours (too high for a container) seems to an extremely complex and time-consuming process... It looks like we could ship our car to either Alexandria/Port Said/Damietta in a container (open top or flat) in a few days (let's hope for the best). This would take 24 hours. We will fly to Egypt ourselves and hope it won't take too much trouble (and baksheesh) to get our car from the Egyptian harbour. The shipping costs, including all other fees, are considerable (about $1650/$2000). But we save the costs to cross Syria and save a lot of potentially dangerous hassle.

P.s. the first RoRo from Mersin to Alexandria will depart on 13 March (or at least is scheduled on this date); costs (excluding custom charges etc.) are about EUR 835,- for a car and 2 pax. Passengers are allowed on the vessel. This is not the RoRo which is mentioned above; that RoRo would start its services as from 27 February, but the relevant agency informed us that it is highly uncertain when the services will really start (maybe somewhere in March/April). It's very unfortunate that there are so little shipping options and that the few available are so expensive.

After so many telephone calls, just been able to talk to the ghost ship owner. Now they have another lie until 7.th of march.

So our personal idea according to experiences and critical situation in the area is still same as mentioned in previous mails.

Hope all becomes normal soon.

we will always be happy to be helpful to bikers in and around Turkey.

Wish you all the best,happy and safe travels.

Indeed, the 7th of March is definately a lie; Ankara is making difficulties and according to the agent, there is no RoRo of this company in such short term. So to all overlanders: don't place your bets on this RoRo at this moment, until there is more reliable information.

Are you sure you want to bring a car into Egypt... you will be fleeced and if paperwork isnt 100% up to scratch you car held hostage for a huge ransom by corrupt officials who told me all about there car auction scheme at a compound of impounded vehicles from Europe and South Africa. It is completely ridiculous here. Its like "Mars Attacks" with "welcome to Egypt" banded about before being royalty ripped off and eefed about. You'll be fleeced in Alexandria and then again in Aswan as you get ferry to Wadi Halfa.

The good news is the further south you go the better it becomes and the more interesting. Sudan is great and people are awesome.

Port Sudan must a favourite from Saudi.

anaconda@
If you meet anymore problems there, please meet Delta.They have office in Mersin Port also.They do the shipping of bikes and cars for sports federations and search rescue teams.They did several good jobs for our club before and personally in touch with the owner.

today talked to him and he asked dimensions and weight to see whether to send in a container or by roro.he will give you a price according to this information he needs.Head office in istanbul close to the club.

Give him a selam from us,he will remember the matter.
bulent@deltacargo.com

Hope problems end and you start your wonderful journey in Africa very soon.If there may be something we can do in İstanbul,please don't hesitate to inform us.

Best wishes

So what else can you do coming rom the North...
 

I am facing this hassle soon and with Syria out of the question the only other way to get into Egypt without shipping is to try to get Libya visa and pay for armed escort (from what I understand). I am struggling to get some official "quote/process" from shipping agent in Alexandria. It looks like the only way is to ship, rock up at the port and hope whoever you decide on to help in Egypt can get the job done within a reasonable budget (e.g. I have left £400 in the budget for this).

Honestly, you would think Egypt does not want tourists...

Sorry that is my rant for the day :thumbup1:

Hi Rupertu,

How it's possible to reach Port Sudan from Europe by ferry?
If not what is the best way to reach Port Sudan from Europe with my car (and return)?

RR.

We are now in Mersin... and unbelievably so are our KTMs which came over on the MV Grande Napoli

Live Ships Map - AIS - Vessel Traffic and Positions

I am quite sure you can find an agent in Mersin to ship bikes to Port Sudan. Of course the best way is through Saudi, but that means riding through Iran which, although an awesome country, is a little brittle at the moment. Also women cant drive in saudi. :thumbup1:

There was talk that the road is going to open between Egypt and Sudan, thus avoiding the Aswan/Wadi Halfa ferry which makes no sense at all. The local fixers on either side will know the status quo and can be found elsewhere on the Hubb.

Now we are out of Egypt and have no intention of ever going back I can say the country is a complete mess. Insha 'Allah is no excuse for incompetence, lack of logic, lack of efficiency, brutal treatment of women, and a complete absence of common sense and decency. As with the aid workers who were detained recently the only language understood is money and these people were only released when the USA threatened to hold back 1 billion in aid to prop up their incompetence and extremism. The tragedy is that its a country blessed with oil and gas, unparalleled natural beauty and historical wonders, the Red Sea and a marine wonderland etc .. but its 5000 years of civilization in reverse gear. There are some lovely people but they are in the minority.

As a forensic accountant that has battled against fraud and corruption for decades I will never subject myself to being compromised again. Easy for me to say after I have spent 5 months there I know. If I could have navigated around it i would have. certainly if I was on my own i would have ridden through Syria and taken my chances.

To date ...Turkey, Jordan, Sudan, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa have stood out as superb countries... The rest... naturally beautiful and interesting as they are... royally effed up by their corrupt homo sapien inhabitants.

Now that's a rant....:taz:

I am in Sudan and asking everybody under the sun about this. From what I can gather, Sudan is fine with you crossing that border, though you need to get a permit to travel up there. But Egypt won't let you in. For reasons you have perhaps described.

A little history helps - that area of land is disputed between the two countries:
Hala'ib Triangle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Or did you mean the road inland new the ferry? I drove up the coastal highway last week quite a way, it is a nice road...

Container it to Port Sudan is all I know....anybody else? Googling in Arabic might help it anybody can do this?

Everything else creates problems.....

I'd like to go from Sudan straight to Europe....

Saudis will not let you in if you've been to Israel plus as far I know they will not grant a transit visa for travel to/from Jordan anyway because a number of people were murdered taking that route a few years ago.