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# The Last Time the Suez Canal Was Blocked a Utopian Communist Micronation Was Formed at Sea
- URL: https://werd.io/the-last-time-the-suez-canal-was-blocked-a-utopian/
- Published: 2022-01-03T20:20:23.000Z
- Updated: 2022-01-03T20:20:23.000Z
- Author: Ben Werdmuller
- Tags: #Import 2025-06-13 09:24

“The last time ships got stuck in the Suez Canal, they were there for eight years. From 1967 to 1975, in the aftermath of the Six-Day War, 14 ships were stranded in the Great Bitter Lake, a salt lake connected to the canal. Unable to leave, the crews, dubbed the "Yellow Fleet" because of the desert sand that eventually covered them, developed their own society at sea. This society developed its own postal service and stamps, and held a version of the Olympics in 1968.”

\[[Link](https://www.vice.com/en/article/akd5zg/the-last-time-the-suez-canal-was-blocked-a-utopian-communist-micronation-was-formed-at-sea)\]