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Great Bitter Lake Association, Egypt

Introduction
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Egypt

Introduction

The "Yellow Fleet" was a group of fourteen ships stranded in the Suez Canal (specifically in the Great Bitter Lake section) from 1967 to 1975, having become collateral victims of the Six-Day War. The flotilla earned this name due to the yellowish appearance the vessels acquired over time, coated by desert sand carried to them by the wind.

In June 1967, these fourteen ships were transiting northward through the Suez Canal when fighting broke out between Israel and Egypt, a conflict that would become known as the Six-Day War. Both ends of the canal were closed by order of the Egyptian government, and within three days, it became clear that the waterway would remain impassable for the foreseeable future after ships were scuttled to block the entrances. Consequently, the fourteen vessels were forced to drop anchor in the widest section of the canal: the Great Bitter Lake.

The fourteen merchant ships stranded on the Great Bitter Lake were:
the Nordwind (West Germany, Nordstern Reederei);
the Münsterland (West Germany, Hamburg America Line);
the Killara (Sweden, Rederiaktiebolaget Transatlantic);
the Nippon (Sweden, Svenska Ostasiatiska Kompaniet);
the Sindh (Messageries Maritimes, France), before being sold in August 1970 and renamed Essayons;
the Agapenor (United Kingdom, Blue Funnel Line);
the Melampus (United Kingdom, Blue Funnel Line);
the Scottish Star (United Kingdom, Blue Funnel Line);
the Port Invercargill (United Kingdom, Port Line);
the African Glen (United States, Farrell Lines), which would sink in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War;
the Djakarta (Poland, Polish Ocean Lines);
the Boleslaw Bierut (Poland, Polish Ocean Lines);
the Vassil Levsky (Bulgaria, Navibulgar);
the Lednice (Czechoslovakia, Československá plavba dunajská).
A fifteenth ship, the SS Observer (United States, Marine Carriers Corp.), was stranded on Lake Timsah.

In October 1967, officers and crew members from the fourteen ships met aboard the Melampus to establish the Great Bitter Lake Association, aimed at providing mutual support among the crews. In the months that followed, the various crews met regularly aboard their respective ships, organizing social events, establishing a sailing club, and even staging the "Great Bitter Lake Olympics"—a playful nod to the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Over time, a postal system was established, featuring handmade stamps that have since become collectors' items for philatelists. As time went on, it became possible to reduce the number of crew members on board the ships; in 1969, the vessels were grouped together to further cut down on the crew required for maintenance.
In 1972, the last crew members from the German ships were finally sent home, and vessel maintenance was handed over to a Norwegian company. In the spring of 1975, the Suez Canal reopened to international shipping, and on May 24, 1975, the German ships Münsterland and
Nordwind arrived at the port of Hamburg, cheered on by more than 30,000 spectators. They were reportedly the only ships able to leave the canal under their own power. For the Münsterland, this marked the end of a voyage that had begun in Australia eight years, three months, and five days earlier...

More on this subject:
https://cathsenker.co.uk/stranded-six-day-war-homecoming-hamburg/
https://www.vice.com/en/article
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Fleet

Olivier Touzeau, 27 September 2026

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image by Olivier Touzeau, 27 September 2026