Duba-Suez ferry service resumes after 9 years

The first passenger ferry between the Egyptian city of Suez and the Saudi port of Duba resumes on June 18 after nine years, sources told Arab News recently.
The Egyptian Red Sea Authority is working with authorities in the Kingdom to have the first trip as an experiment from the newly refurbished port.
Mohammed Abdel Hamid Al-Bukhari, the previous head of the maritime transport committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the ferry would depart from Port Tawfiq in the city of Suez.
Al-Bukhari praised the Egyptians for renovations he saw during his last visit to the port, which includes a new road leading to the harbor, a pilgrims’ village and parking area for cars.
Once fully operational, the new route could see 100,000 pilgrims head to Saudi Arabia this year, said Ahmed Al-Owaifi, head of the Al-Zarqa’ tourism and travel agency.
He said it would be more affordable for pilgrims because of the rising cost of airfares between the two countries.
“It will encourage many passengers to use this port close to Cairo, in contrast to the Safaga port, which is far away,” said Al-Owaifi.
Maj. Gen. Ali Al-Sharif, vice president of the Red Sea Ports Authority, said a new ticketing system would be introduced soon, which includes internal transportation in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
The Red Sea route for pilgrims and workers has been operating between Duba and Safaga. It was on this route that the Egyptian ferry Al-Salam 98 sank in February 2006, killing 1,000 passengers, mostly Egyptians working in Saudi Arabia. The disaster was one of the deadliest in modern maritime history, according to reports.
In 1991, an Egyptian ferry, Salem Express, sank in the Red Sea between Jeddah and Safaga, leading to the loss of nearly 500 lives.