Finally a ferry between Venice and Egypt?....
 

Just been trawling through some European sites on the Sahara, and uncovered this:

inforMARE - Notizie

Looks like there are plans for a new ferry: Venice-Egypt-Syria-Venice

Venice to Egypt in 60hrs
Venice to Syria in 68hrs

200 trucks, 80 cars and 400 passengers

Lets hope this one actually goes ahead!!

Good find!

Lets keep our fingers crossed, but knowing the egyptian beauracracy, I'll only believe it when I see it!!!!

Andy

Hello Andy!
The line will be run by an Italian Company, not Egyptian, and for one departure each week.
They also say that if the outcome will be good, they'll increase the number of departures from one to two each week.

It sounds pretty good, if it appears to be real
We just have to wait until May 20th.... I remember the 80' and 90 when Espresso Egitto operate between Bari and Alex. I have took this ferry 2 times and the BIG advantage was that the Italian Company managed a lot of the mandatory paperwork to enter in Egypt with a car. Hope it will be the same thing?
RR.

A member of an Italian overland motorcycling message board has given a ring to Visemar Line, which is organizing everything.

They told him the line will be "circular": departure from Venice, Italy on Thursday with arrival at port in Tartous (Syria) on Sunday.
Departure from Tartous the same day and arrival at port in Alexandria, Egypt on Monday morning.
Departure from Alexandria at evening/night of Monday and arrival on Thursday morning at Venice port.
Carriage fee for 4 persons astride 2 motorcycles (this friend's particular case) is about 1000 euro.

Hope this helps.

Hello trans-african, seems you found my post on Sahara.it :thumbup1:

The service to Egypt is very interesting, here are timetables and the foreseen costs, a new website for the online reservation system will be shortly available at: Visemar Line - Ferry Services - Italy Syria Egypt
From what I know motorcycle costs will be between 150 and 200 Euro.

http://www.deserts.it/temp/oraritraghetto.jpg
http://www.deserts.it/temp/prezzi1.jpg
http://www.deserts.it/temp/prezzi2.jpg

ciao
luciano

Well done, Luciano!

Greetz from Mantova.

Looks very interesting........... certainly another option

mmmmm...........

Ive been thinking about this, and having experienced both the land border crossing at sollum from Libya which was quite easy, and Alex port when shipping in a container from UK, the shipping option was to put it mildly, stressfull............it took 3 days to get the cars cleared but this was not helped in any way at all by the fact that our UK shipping company sent them to the wrong port, but thats another story!

So I have a couple of queries
Are the prices quoted 'driven cars & passenger' for the car, driver & passenger or for the car alone with the driver & passenger in addition.

once arrival at Alexandria, what are the formalities / costs / procedures likely to be, similar to the land border at sollum??

and how long are the formalities likely to take.

Any info / advice would be appreciated.

It certainly appeals to me as coming from UK I calculate about 6 days till arrival in Alex, and really pushing it, its seven days driving coming overland from UK, plus the various costs etc with ferry to Tunis, Libyan guides, border fees etc etc.
Last year I had 2 uses of my (expensive) carnet into Egypt, this would make it much more affordable!
Andy

certainly an option
 

around Lybia and Tunisia. I'll be crossing from Jordan to Egypt, and this looks like a good work around the lybian visas and guide only to catch the ferry from Tunis.

Going to Italy this weekend, I'll try to get my Italian mates to ring up and find out the proces for bikes Alex-Venice and report back.

Thanks in advance for your feedback, Camel

RR.

Thanks
 

I'd like to add my thanks to all involved in researching this.

It is quite exciting.

Not quite holding my breath though. The last ferry I took, Italy to Middle East, was refused entry to Beirut harbour, we were dumped in Syria (without visas), the passengers revolted and much much later we were allowed to the Lebanon. Needless to say, this was the last run for this company, as the boss had disappeared with all the cash.

Of course that kind of thing could never happen here in Egypt.

Looking forward to hearing the stories of the first guinnea pigs.

This is great news, 2 years ago I spent the day in Lattakia looking for a so called ferry to Cyprus... needless to say I was a few year late :oops2:


Great .... news .... I can almost hear my brain working....

I really hope this is a reality..

Skipping Libya would save us a lot of time and agro and most importantly, MONEY !!!

Any more Info??
 

A week away from the first sailing...

Does anyone have more info?

Does the vehicle price include passengers?

Does the passengers price include cabins?

Where are those guinnea pigs?

Also very interested in this now .. read about it on Touring Teds blog ... if we don't get our Libyan visas .. then at least another option. We plan to leave Sept 2010 heading for Cape Town down the East coast.

Theres always the route through Turkey, Syria and Jordan too.

We're trying to avoid that route due to cost !

See you on the road :D :D

Visemar website now working:

Visemar Line - Homepage

http://www.visemarline.com/img/visemar-one.png

http://www.visemarline.com/file/flot...SEMAR_(29).jpg

http://www.visemarline.com/file/flot...SEMAR_(48).jpg

I recently read on an Italian overlanders' message board that the officers of VISEMAR LINE have been flooded by enquiries of 4x4 and Motorcycle owners interested in this route and tickets are rapidly getting sold.
They said that a second weekly departure will most probably be shortly added to schedule in a very short time, just because of this flood of unexpected enquiries.

We've just asked for 4 tickets and cabin for September :smartass:

Theres an error on the site that you can book multiple persons but only 1 bike ! A few glitches to be ironed out it seems.

hi Ted
that's good news :scooter:
i tried to find how much the ticket from alex to venice but cant find the bike section (method of travel )
is MOTION means motorbike???
thanks for help

Don't misunderstand. We havn't booked it. We tried to but the option for only 1 bike meant we couldnt. We mailed them instead.

I say "We" but it was really Neil. His fluent Spanish got him around the site !!

I think it's fixed now. I just checked Alex to Venice, single, motorbike for late October, and it came back with GBP 302.78. bit pricy, but in comparison to crossing Lybia, and ferry from Tunis, it's a bargain.

Maybe this will make Lybia re-consider their guide / visa regulations to retain this section of tourism (not that they need it).

Have a look here Ferries - Book Cheap ferries to France, Ireland, Holland and other European ferry crossings

From Camels link,

1 person, 1 bike , 1 bed (4 bed shared cabin) is £372 for 23rd Sept.

4 day cruise by the looks of it.

You can only book one vehicle per booking so if you're in a group with seperate bikes, you all have to book seperately which is a pain in the arse !

Sorry, please excuse my ignorance, but am curious about "115 southbound or 105 nothbound"....it says MTL after the figure......does this mean per meter length?

Many thanks, hope this is a success.

And about paperwork in Alexandria...
 

Does anyone hahe infos about it?
The same nightmare than at Lybian/Egyptian border?
Or does Visemar takes in charge some (like Adriatica in the 80's)?
RR.

Yes, I think so.

"MTL" here in Italy stands for "metro lineare" that should mean per meter length.

Carnet for Egypt
 

Can some one advise me please.

I have been looking in the UK RAC website about carnets for Egypt. As I read it they require a deposit or indemnity of 8 times the value of the vehicle to issue a carnet useable in Egypt.

Therefore (as I understand it) travel through Egypt on a £5000 bike (for example) I would need to secure £40,000 from somewhere.

Someone please tell me I have it all wrong !!!!

I collect my new XT1200Z next week and it appears that Egypt is off the list due to the carnet cost.

Ray

Someone please tell me I have it all wrong !!!!

No, not wrong but ...
a. you get the 40k back after, most of it
b. Paul G at RAC may help. (he may be at HU)
c. Check out the HUBB carnet thread
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/trip-paperwork/

Off to check out pix of this new 1200Z...

Ch

[quote=Old Git Ray;291138]Can some one advise me please.



Therefore (as I understand it) travel through Egypt on a £5000 bike (for example) I would need to secure £40,000 from somewhere.


Yup, thats right 40k!!!

Paul G at the RAC may be able to help, undervalue the bike as much as possible, we usually go down the insurance policy route for the bond, again, Paul may be able to help there.
He's a nice bloke!!!

Andy

Thanks
 

Thanks Guys (ish !)

So that will be £13,500 x 8 = £108,000 of which I get most back, or £10,800 of which I get £5,400 back.

Nice..... I take it the Egyptians don't like tourists !

Sorry for the thread hijack. Hopefully I will bump into Paul G at Ripley.

Regards Ray

Egyptians love tourists, but not ones that drive there in thier own cars! they like them flown in, relieved of cash, then flown back out again skint and loaded down with rugs, shesha pipes and cuddly camels : ) Overlanders cause the local authorities a bit of a problem as they then have to provide round the clock protection for us when we land in thier patch - I was chased out of Dhakla a few days ago as the head cop didn't want the burden.

I imagine the main reason for high import guarantee costs is there will be a few people in control of the flow of new cars into the country and they don't want others interfering in thier business and bringing in motors from europe.

In Egypt at the mo and spoke with a guy who was the first to use the new Venice-Alex ferry - all went well with no problems. Takes four days, stops at Syria, no hassles other than the usual Egyptian entry process, which to be fair no one I've spoken with so far has really had that much of an issue with.

Fixer in Alexandria
 

For those using the shiny new ferry...hes a name that might help

All customs and vehicle registration and number plating take place in the port at alexandria....for the egyptians its quite efficient

If you need help coming north or going south contact

Walid Hanafy......who is the agent for the Visemar line in Egypt

The office is a few blocks back for the sea front and quite central

Inchcape Shipping services
20 el Pharaana St
Al Azarita
Alexandria

203 484 3565
203 485 7610

Mob 20 10 010 0645

Hi TNT,

Did you get cleared from the port on the same day that the ferry arrived, plates, insurance etc etc.

I will certainly keep that number of the fixer,

Any approximate idea on costs relating to clearing the port??


I have previously had terrible experiences at Alex with car in container & am planning on using the ferry soon.

Ta
Andy

Alexandria to Venice ferry
 

The ferry was great, but the experience leaving customs in Alexandria was BS. You can find the story here ..... Egypt at Flibber T Gibbet

Sawyer,

Great story! Now imagine going through all this, only in the space of not one but four days, and not in one port but two ports in Alex. I and Trumpton could tell you better stories that could make your blood boil!

One day at the port - it's great progress! The Egyptain bureaucracy is now running like a well oiled machine!

Oh I know it can always be worse, that's what I always say. I said to one of the guys, who was really tight on money, 'Just pay them and leave, it will cost more to stay'. The thing I would really hate, is having an accident. Imagine all the people you would pay, while still in jail, even the guy sleeping next to you.

To Touring Ted,

Sorry unable to PM for I have only 2 posts, more time riding than commenting. Anyway, I went from Alexandria to Venice, which will be a different kettle of worms; get a fixer, agree on a price, $25US, and be patient and keep smiling, don't let them get you down. After that, ride away knowing all is done, but go slowly. And if you're going through Ethiopia, take it easy there, the kids will chase the animals onto the road to start a negotiation process if you hit one. Just smile and wave.

Hallo Sawyer,

we want to take the ferry end of oktober.
I read your story and have some question.
Where did you get your tickte at the port?
Where exactly we have to go (do you have GPS Coordinates)?

Many thanks from Germany

Dirk

Hi, I have used the ferry recently and am in Egypt now. I would reccomend anyone to use an assistant on the Egypt end, it took me 3 days(!!!!) In total to deal with all of the paperwork needed. The actually ferry etc was simple and straighforward. A pleasant enough passage, despite being a little boring.

I shall be crossing into Libya next week, for 3 weeks then into Libya/Tunisia. After that Algeria down to Niger (assuming all is well, otherwise a long detour via spain, morocco, mauri and mali), Lake Chad route, Cameroon, CAR, Sudan or, if that fails, Cameroon, Congo, DR Congo, then onwards to Mozambique!
Travelling with my MAN camper...

Happy travels...
Trans African

3 days ???? wtf ??

Took us 4 hours which I thought was crazy !!

Extort in Egypt and onward travel plans
 

It took 3 days to deal with all of our paperwork, the customs there initially rejected out carnet, causing a lot af hassel, it was eventually accepted though. We have crossed into Egypt 6 times before and before now, the longest it took was about 6 hours. We completely lost track of the payments we made, but all in all I think it was about 1000 Egyptian Pounds (c. GBP £110). Before now, we had never paid that much.

We crossed into Libya a few days later and were escorted across the coastal route to Tunisia, with a detour down to Ghat. We spend 2 weeks in Libya. We spent a matter of days in Tunisia and then crossed into Algeria (with a guide ofc). We transited to Niger (no problems) in a week. Following that, we crossed into Chad via the Lake Chad route and then to Cameroon. We are now in Doula (where we have friends). It has been a really fast trip so far, from no on we shall be going at a far slower pace. Next week we shall make our way back to N'Djamena and then head to Southern Chad, cross into CAR and hopefully transit to Sudan and Uganda.

News!
 

"Next week we shall make our way back to N'Djamena and then head to Southern Chad, cross into CAR and hopefully transit to Sudan and Uganda. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...tons/quote.gif"
What a big trip! Let's know some details,please.
RR

Sorry I hadn't checked in until now, November 11th. I am sure you have already found your way around, and I'm sorry I never noted the GPS coordinates of the 'traffic police release paper' as I was in a panic and had to get there within 15 minutes so I hired a car and a fast driver.

Hi Roro, We went at a slightly faster than planned pace in the end and have already arrived in Nairobi for some minor repairs, where it is easier to get done than in Uganda. We were quite rapid in our transit of Chad for security reasons, and we were also fairly quick through CAR (it took us 20 days in total) to get from Bangui to the Sudan border, and then it was a fairly quick journey down to Uganda. We will head back to Uganda tomorrow and spend Christmas at the shore of Lake Victoria, for some peace hopefully. If you want to know anything more about our trip, just ask, I will be happy to answer any questions about it. After the new year, we'll take a slow pace down the east coast to Cape Town.

Thanks Trans-African.
And what about crossing these borders? Formalities?
Racket or some others hassle?
Are you alone (no guide) to cross Tchad?
Have a nice trip!

RR

Experiences in CAR
 

RORO,
The Chad-CAR border was very slow, about 6 hours. This was mainly as they didn't have a clue what they were supposed to do (CAR side) and had to contact someone else in another town. Other than the delays, it was ok.

The CAR-Sudan border was also very slow, it took us about 4 hours one day, then they dissapeared and then it took a further 4 or so hours the next morning. The CAR side was awful, we were threatened with guns on 2 occasions and were extorted left right and centre. You are made to feel as though there is little choice but to pay up. The Sudan side was much nicer, we were offered tea and happily pointed in the right direction. Forget about Carnets in CAR, they barely knew what to do with a passport, let alone anything more than that. Sudan knew what they were doing, albeit they were slow.

The Sudan-Uganda border was much quicker than the rest at 2 hours, and most of that was chatting to the guards. Carnet was stamped into Uganda, no problems.

We would not attempt this route again, and be under no illusion, it was not exactly pleasant. In Chad we only really experienced small scale corruption amongst officials. In CAR though, we were ripped off by everyone we came across, except for a few Missionaries. We were constantly cautious about who we approached etc. We were followed by bandits for (what seemed like) a good while, about 50km out of Bangui. They were shouting at us in an aggressive manner and one of them fired shots into the air. We have no idea why they decided to turn around, as they could have quite easilly overtaken our large vehicle in their pickup, despite the rutted road, although we are just thankful they went away.

There are quite alot of checkpoints along the route, and we got ripped off at all of them. The presence of guns if quite intimidating at times, especially when they get a bit agressive. Neither of us have any notable command of the French language, and in hindsight, this was very fourtunate, as on many occasions we were able to leave a situation because we didn't have a clue what was being said etc. At the border with Sudan, we refused to pay a demand for US$1000 and were threatened with guns (counting to 3 in an ultimatum style to get us to pay), this happened twice. In the end we paid $100 and they were satisfied. We have heard stories similar to this from other travellers in the region, and have now witnessed first hand how hostile it is in this area. In Sudan we were not hasseled like we were in CAR, there were no requests for bribes, and the gaurds were friendly so we offered them to take lunch with us, and we had a good time. The locals in the southern region were not too friendly, and my wife had a fistful of pebbles thrown at her by a small child, whilst it's mother looked on in approval (luckilly the child was not too forceful). Other than that, there were no major problems for us.

I would certainly not reccomend this route unless you are prepared to put up and deal with all of what I have described above. All in all, I think we were ripped off by about $1500-2000 from leaving Chad to arriving in Uganda. I will write this up into a report with pictures over Christmas and post it up somewhere, and include more detail on a day-to-day basis.

--------------------------------
Trans African

Thanks Trans-african for your report.
I won't try CAR with these conditions.
Why have you choose CAR and not directly across Tchad to go to Soudan?
(may be it's worse or forbidden due to Darfour problems).
RR.

Border between Chad and Darfur seems to be open for tourists again. Just read a report of some Germans that drove Abeche-Nyala-Obeid last month. Do not have details (yet).

Ouch!
 

Sounds positively charming as I sit here and contemplate my route plan across Central Africa on a bicycle. I shall be pedalling to Yaounde in the coming week to apply for a visa for CAR and DRC, the idea being to cross from Bangui into DRC and head east towards Kisangani. My thread here http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...l-me-its-54509 doesn't get any rosy replies, although no-one here has actually travelled in this region. Your crossing through CAR sounds a bit stressful and gives the impression that one doesn't get the sympathy vote when showing up on a bicycle.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Certainly not many people have done that route in the last 20 years. Look forward to reading about it in more detail. Are you keeping a website?

I have just crossed from Venice to Alexandria on Visemar Line, brand new ship, very smooth, quiet, comfortable, almost empty (only five other vehicles on the car deck, mostly overlanders), if you like pasta the food is ok. A good comfortable service. As all the trucks in the hold were going to Egypt, the captain avoided the leg to Syria, and we got to Egypt a day earlier, although the last day was slow as the port was not ready and told the captain to slow down, so we got in at 5.0pm on the Saturday when mid-day was original expectations.

Formalities getting off were three hours. Only a cursory check of the luggage but all vehicles and bikes get a whole-vehicle X-ray done by a passing truck which x-rays the contents looking for guns etc. Dogs sniff around, thats it. Onto the next check. You have a scrum for rusty number plates. Best to get a fixer to sort the licence etc, and this took three hours from docking to driving out the main gate number 4, and onto the Cornich for the very good road to Cairo. Got into Cairo hotel at midnight after a meal half way.

So far so good. Went to get Sudanese visa, which is best done in Cairo as apart from Addis this is the only consulate that can issue visas without reference to Khartoum, and we were told to come back following day to collect - so, a 24 hour service. Consulate is a poky office takes some finding, at the back of the Embassy, which is next door to the British Embassy. There is a stationary shop in the same street which does photo copies. You need: Passport, application form, two photos, copy of application form (done at stationary shop, where you fill it in), plus letter of invitation(British Embassy, or in our case, Lord Steel on House of Lords notepaper saying we were good blokes). Visemar Line do a good job, well worth checking out (google).

It could be a helluva lot worse. Reading the stuff on the barge Wadi Halfra, the worse is to come. - Jim Allen

Am I right in thiniing you need a carnet with a hefty multiplier for egypt? (and syria)
given the ridiculous costs and restrictions of travelling to and around egypt (as detailed elsewhere) I can't see them making a go of this.

In true African style the short term profits of the few filling their own pockets threaten the long term benefit of tourism to the country for the majority

Well, we met an American travelling on French papers and in aFrench car who reckoned Egypt is the same as everywhere,a mark up of 2.5 times the value of the car (scrap value), we argued its eight times in the UK, also got a very low estimate of the value of the car agreed by the RAC Travel Dept.
There were five overlanders on the ferry, thats all, so how much longer it goes on for goodness knows, the freight truckers in the hold may well be why this ferry exists, but, its a link with the Eastern Africa route and good that it exists. Saves massive time and costs of going through Greece, Turkey,Syria and Jordan, Venice to Alex in three days is brill, dont knock it. Boat being new is spotlessly clean and comfortable, very quiet and smooth, one of the best ferries you could wish for.Visemar are trying...

It's only the RAC that hit you with 800% for Egypt.

Australia - 200%

South Africa - 200%

Other European countries I'm aware of - all 250%

I think it's reasonable to adjust Moggy 1968's statement to:

In true rip off Britain style the short term profits of the few filling their own pockets threaten the long term benefit of tourism to the country for the majority.

misterpaul
you might just be right there ;o)
it is great they are tyring but I can't see it succeeding unless these countries become more amenable to travellers

I don't understand very well if the the CPD is mandatory or notif you travel with Visemar.
Can you be very clear about that point?
BTW only 3 hours for formalities to hit the road to Cairo seems to me very intersting (with or without CPD)!
Is it due to Visemar services (like Adriatica in the long past times) ?

RR.

Hi to All do anyone know if this service is still working cheers Dai

Hi, If you check this thread, you'll find the bad news..

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ancelled-57423

Here people reported in june, that their trip was cancelled and that the service might be resumed in october 2011.

Regards

At the end of the past August I received the news from Visemar Line that this ferry will not operate during this year. :(

Today I'll send them an email again asking for it.