Saba News in Yemen is reporting that Eritrean authorities have released a Yemeni fishing boat, which was held in custody since May 17th. Eritrea is going to release two other fishing boats in the coming two days according to the Yemeni news paper. In the past Yemeni fishermen used to enter Eritrean sea waters illegally in order to extend their fishing grounds. Read more: Saba News.

Two men have been killed after clashes with police in South Yemen. The two men have been taking part in demonstrations against increasing food prices in the Red Sea state. Read more: TOPNEWSIN.

The CEO of Eritrea’s Free Zones Authority Araia Tseggai confirmed in a interview with Reuters, that Eritrea is planning to launch a free trade zone for Massawa harbour later this year. Free trade zone means that Eritrea would abolish trade barriers such as taxes, certain charges and quotas as well as minimize bureaucracy on it’s ports, in order to attract foreign investment.

According to Araia dozens of companies have already registered, because Eritrea’s ports are located along the busiest shipping routes of the world. Further, he outlined that approximately 20.000 ships loaded with 700 million tonnes of cargo, which is around 9% of the total global freight market, would pass each year the coast of Eritrea.

The country is said to have invested millions of $US for the infrastructure of the harbour and airport in Massawa. There are already around 12 companies from countries such as China, Italy, Israel, India, Djibouti, Sudan and Dubai, which have registered under the scheme.

Araia points out that the competitive advantage of Massawa or Assab lies in the low labour costs compared to ports such as Dubai, Djibouti or Aden. Although, Eritrea is aware of the fierce competition from neighbouring countries, it believes it can tap into the niche market of small scale freight operations. Because, small companies would shift away from expensive harbours in the region in favour of the less expensive Eritrean ports. Thus, the initial strategy would be to focus on small cargo business first.

Eritrea’s second and strategically better located port Assab, due to it’s closer location to the Indian Ocean, will follow Massawa into the free trade zone in 2010. Eritrea hopes with this measures to stimulate economical activities in the country as well as to lay the foundation for a good soil of future trade with the world.

When I was sitting on the Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Asmara, it was going to be my second trip to Eritrea. In contrast to my two European friends accompanying me, I could hardly keep my thoughts still, imagining how things might be and what might have changed since my last trip to Eritrea.

“Are the same people still going to be around?” , “Is the hairdresser salon of the old Eritrean-Italian couple “Gianni e Gina” ,I think that was the name ,still existing?”.

All I knew was that this time I wanted my travel activities to be focused on Massawa and the Red Sea. I basically spent all my days on my first visit to Eritrea in Asmara, doing the so well known family thing. When we arrived things seemed to have slightly changed and after a short stay in Asmara we packed our luggage and departed for the bus to Massawa.

The buses were slightly smaller than they used to be, which was good, as it shortened the waiting time until the bus filled with passengers in order to depart. When the bus started the journey to Massawa, I sank into the bus seat and took a deep breath trying to get rid of my small jet lag. Shortly, after we passed the outskirts of Asmara, we reached the mountain slopes leading down from the highlands of Eritrea towards the lowlands around the Red Sea coast.

The view out of the bus and into the wide mountains and deep valleys was so impressive, that to me it seemed unchanged since God created land on the third day. Meanwhile,in the bus Eritrean music was playing, while a mix of passengers consisting of young soldiers, local farmers and some elderly women joined the artist on tape by singing to the tunes. This is a wonderful phenomena you would only come across in few places on earth and Eritrea is definitely one of them. It nearly broke my heart to see that in music they find their shelter and in music they cross to the heaven they are looking for.

We arrived in Massawa in the late afternoon with the intention to check in at the Red Sea Hotel, which offers diving and snorkeling boat trips to a nearby island. Unfortunately, the rooms were fully booked and so we had to make our way to Gurgusum Beach Hotel in the outskirts of Massawa. However, before we set off to Gurgusum we succeeded in arranging a boat trip with the Red Sea Hotel, to a nearby island for the next morning . When we arrived the next day, two friendly employees from the hotel took us to their diving and snorkel equipment store for a little introduction in water sports. I was quite impressed with the professionalism of the staff as well as the good equipped facilities at the water sport center.

Our instructor was called Luciano and one could figure out that he had already done this hundred times before as he displayed an unbelievable routine in what he was doing . This should be no surprise as thousands of Eritreans from all over the world possibly flock each year to Massawa to get their share of the red sea. Meanwhile, we were given instructions in safety issues while out on sea and had to choose fitting diving fins, diving suits and snorkel equipment. To my surprise Luciano gave me a fishing rod and told me he will bring us to the island and pick us up from the island after 11 hours. When I inquired about the fishing rod, Luciano told me it would be a great help in case I would like to catch fish for lunch. Somehow, I could hardly imagine myself to be able to catch fish and I was proved right later.

Massawa - behind us!

The island - ahead of us!

The weather was beautiful and when we set off starting the engines of the boat we could see the silhouette of Massawa behind us, slowly becoming smaller and smaller. After we have been dropped off on the island by Luciano, he returned back with the boat to the main land, promising to pick us up again later in the evening. We were told that the best coral reef for snorkeling was not that far away from the island, so it was easy for us to make several dives that day.

For me as a first time snorkeler, the under water world was amazing and introduced me to a completely new dimension of nature. My only fears were that some shark could have me on the menue instead of me catching a fish for lunch. Especially, after one of the instructors told us earlier that his right big toe was bitten off by a Barracuda fish while diving.

While I was scanning the under water world floating on the surface, I realised that no single fish close by would scare away from me. Many times before I have heard that fish around the waters of Eritrea are not used to humans, because they hardly ever met any and therefore, do not shy away. After each snorkel session we would swim back to the island for water and a little break in the shadow next to seagulls and other marine birds. The only building on the island was the old remains of a former mosque, everything else was made out of sand and a few trees and bushes. Due to the tranquility of the place, we could for the first time lay back and reflect on all the impressions made so far.

The old Mosque

To our surprise we realised after several hours that we were not alone on the island, because suddenly two men appeared out of the blue. The men told us that they were collecting sea shells on the island to make their living. I was told, Eritrea is exporting sea shells to Italy. The Italians require the material for manufacturing exclusive shell buttons for Italian designer shirts. After our small talk with the men we went to collect our equipment as we were expecting Luciano to soon be back to pick us up with the boat as darkness was approaching on the horizon. On our return to the mainland my friends promised me to go for dinner in the center of Massawa, because since I did not catch a single fish, we were starving to death. In the night, the center of Massawa shines as Arabic as the Old Souk of Doha and appeared to me as exiting as Sindbad’s fairy tales.

Everything seemed to be kept very simple and natural with no big tourism fuss, which I liked very much. The shops, bars and restaurants reminded me rather on Sudanese or Middle Eastern culture compared to the Italian style of Asmara. When we finally made it to the restaurant, it was striking that hundreds of wild cats were strolling around looking to catch a piece of fish from the tables around Massawa’s restaurants. The grilled fish I was served came with a spicy tomato souse they called “Souse a la Somali”, but without beer as the they did not serve alcohol due to Islamic law. After we finished our late dinner we walked through a wonderful night in Massawa and returned tired from the excursion to our hotel. The following days, I could not stop dreaming about fish until we returned to Asmara and our diet changed to dorho with injera.

Weather station updates are reporting a dust storm over the Dahlak Islands and parts of Eritrea. The dust storm was first observed in Sudan moved towards Ethiopia and now is over Eritrea. According to EASONAP the storm is going to reach into Egypt and Saudi Arabia across the Red Sea.

South African ” The Witness” is reporting that luxury cruise liners are avoiding journeys from Europe to South Africa via the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa. Instead the cruise liners take routes around the cost of West Africa. This are measures having been stepped up by the cruise lines, in order to avoid attacks by pirates and to assure safe passage of their passengers. Read more: The Witness.