Tag Archives: Suez Canal

Aroya Announces Return to the Red Sea

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Aroya Announces Return to the Red Sea

Aroya Cruises announced that it is returning to the Red Sea in September, with a new season of sailings departing from its homeport of Jeddah.

The company said that the new itineraries will take guests to some of the most captivating destinations in the region, including the private island of Jabal Al Sabaya and Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt.

After debuting in the region in late June, Aroya is currently completing a summer deployment in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Sailing from Galataport Istanbul, Aroya offered a series of weeklong cruises to destinations in Türkiye, Greece and Egypt.

“Our first Mediterranean season has been a significant milestone for Aroya Cruises, attracting guests from across the region and internationally,” said Aroya’s President, Joerg Rudolph.

“As we return to the Red Sea, we are building on this success with new itineraries that highlight the region’s culture, stunning landscapes, and renowned Arabian hospitality. With the new season, we continue our commitment to creating memorable journeys for both first-time cruisers and returning guests.”

Aroya’s summer season in the Mediterranean ends with an eight-night repositioning voyage that will sail from Istanbul to Jeddah on Sep. 12, 2025.

Ahead of launching its new season in the Red Sea, the Aroya is set to visit Kuşadası, Bodrum, the Suez Canal and Sharm El Sheikh.

Starting on September 20, 2025, the company offers three-, four-, and five-night cruises to the private island of Jabal Al Sabaya, as well as the Egyptian ports of Safaga (Hurghada) and Sharm El-Sheikh.

The Aroya is also set to make visits to Marsa Alam, which will be part of a newly launched itinerary. Other highlights of the season include a new interporting operation in Safaga, available on select departures.

According to the company, the new embarkation port provides added flexibility for travellers and creates new opportunities to experience Aroya’s Red Sea offering directly from Egypt’s coast.

Aroya added that its cruises in the region are designed for both regional guests seeking short escapes and international guests looking to discover the Red Sea.

“The itineraries showcase the diversity of the region’s coastlines and cultural landmarks, delivered with Saudi Arabia’s renowned Hafawa hospitality and the distinctive onboard experience that defines an Aroya journey,” the company stated.

Aroya also confirmed its return to Türkiye in 2026 and 2027 for extended seasons in the Eastern Mediterranean.

AIDA Cruises Cancels 2025-26 Season in the Middle East

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AIDA Cruises Cancels 2025-26 Season in the Middle East

AIDA Cruises is cancelling its 2025-26 season in the Middle East due to security concerns in the region.

It impacts sailings set to take place on the AIDAprima between October 3, 2025, and March 25, 2026.

In a statement sent to booked guests, the company noted that the vessel will now sail in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Islands during this timeframe.

“With this decision, the company wants to provide its guests with reliable clarity about their vacation trips in the coming winter season as early as possible. At the same time, the safety of guests and crew is our top priority,” AIDA reportedly said.

In addition, cruise lines are said to be concerned about transit time around Africa if they cannot transit the Suez Canal.

The company also noted that the safety of its guests and crew is a top priority, adding that the “situation in the Middle East cannot currently be reliably assessed for the foreseeable future.”

The new itineraries will sail from Kiel and Hamburg, visiting destinations in the North and Baltic Seas, as well as the Canary Islands.

Bookings for the new AIDAprima sailings will open on July 30, 2025, cruisetricks.de reported.

Affected guests are being offered rebooking alternatives, in addition to a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) valued at ten per cent of the fare paid for the cancelled cruises.

AIDA had been offering itineraries in the Middle East for nearly two decades.

Excluding the pandemic years, the company’s 2025-26 season will be the first without a ship sailing from UAE ports.

AIDA first introduced itineraries in the region during the winter of 2006-07, with the AIDAcara offering weeklong cruises from Dubai.

Other ships that sailed in the region over the years include the AIDAdiva, the AIDAblu, the AIDAstella, the AIDAprima and the AIDAnova.

With the AIDAprima repositioning to Northern Europe and the Canaries, AIDA also cancelled some sailings that were scheduled to take place onboard the AIDAbella in early 2026.

First Panamax Containership Sprints Across Arctic Reaching China In Just Three Weeks

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Container ship Flying Fish 1 is close to fully loaded. (Source: Courtesy of Peter Faas)

(gCaptain) – The first Arctic transit of a large container ship has gone off without a hitch. The 294 meter-long Panamax vessel Flying Fish 1, traveled from St. Petersburg in the Baltic Sea to China in just over three weeks, shaving around two weeks off a standard voyage via the Suez Canal. 

It is set to arrive at its destination in Shanghai early on September 26. The vessel is operated by EZ Safetrans Logistics out of Hong Kong. 

The proposition of regular summer season box shipping across Russia’s Northern Sea Route seemed impossible to most just a decade ago. This year the Arctic Ocean will see close to 20 transit voyages, all connecting Russian and Chinese ports via the Arctic shortcut.

Capable of carrying 4,890 twenty-foot equivalent containers it sets a new standard for Arctic container shipping. Prior to this summer only smaller box carriers holding around 1,500-2,000 gave the Arctic shortcut a try. Over the past three months, several larger feeder vessels have established a seasonal liner service between ports and China and Arkhangelsk and St. Petersburg.

Flying Fish 1 departed from St. Petersburg on September 3 and entered the Northern Sea Route at the top of Novaya Zemlya a week later. Shortly thereafter it crossed paths with another Chinese container ship, the first encounter of two large box carriers high in the Arctic. The nighttime rendezvous occurred just 850 nautical miles from the North Pole, with no sea ice in sight.

The vessel was able to maintain a speed of 16 knots across the entire length of the route, indicative of how Arctic ice conditions have dramatically changed over just the last two decades. Flying Fish 1 continued through the Laptev and East Siberian Sea, avoiding some late-summer ice near Wrangel Island. 

It exited from the route and passed through the Bering Strait near Alaska on September 17, without requiring any icebreaker assistance, just six days after entering the Russian Arctic.

Once complete, its journey from the Baltic Sea to Shanghai will measure approximately 8,000 nautical miles, around 4,000 nautical miles shorter than the traditional route via the Suez Canal. The current detour for most vessels around South Africa due to instability in the Red Sea adds another 4,000 miles to the standard route to Asia. 

For now, shipping services between Europe and Asia via the North remain limited to a 3-4 months summer window, but as sea ice retreats earlier in summer and returns later in winter, more operators will surely look to the Arctic for new opportunities.

Thank you to g-Captain for this article for more visit https://gcaptain.com/