Published 16 years ago, updated 6 years ago

Noonsite received this email from a concerned skipper and should be read by anyone planning a Suez transit in possession of recently issued Small Ships Register (SSR) documents.

Message Reads:

I am currently delivering a British flagged yacht, registered recently on the Small Ships Register, from Greece to Dubai.

New SSR registration documents do not carry a stamp from the Registry (“in Europe, we are trying to get away from stamping documents”).

Unfortunately, the Suez Canal Authorities are refusing to accept these latest documents as originals and are refusing passage (we were the 4th boat to suffer this fate recently).

The solution is a trip to the British Embassy in Cairo to have the SSR document authenticated as an original, a time consuming and expensive diversion. We are now carrying several transcripts from our entry in the register which may or may not help.

Until the authorities in Britain and Suez get their ducks in a row, British flagged boats travelling on a recently issued SSR document should be aware.