Question Red Sea RE Aggressor trips to Sudan?

[scubadada]

Does anyone know what happened to the itineraries to Sudan and South Sudan? The only trip listed for the boat now is Deep South Egypt.

I have a query into Aggressor

 

[d^2b]

I'm curious too. My buddy and I looked at them when they were offering some pretty deep discounts, but I felt kindof wimpy about the political state of Sudan. I don't think the boat docked there, but it was close enough to make me nervous. Your mileage may vary of course.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @d^2b

I did the BDE and South itinerary in 2016. The two longer trips to Sudan looked very interesting.

My wife was not that happy that I was considering Sudan, I had not decided about the safety yet. The boat stopped at Port Sudan for an immigration check on the way down.

I'll post if I hear from Aggressor

 

[scubadada]

I received a brief reply from Aggressor, confirming that they are not offering the two Sudan itineraries. They said the owners decided not to offer the trips, I could not get them to specify the reason(s).

So much for Sudan, for now

 

[Bubble99]

It is due to the political situation in Sudan since 2019 unfortunately

 

[scubadada]

It is due to the political situation in Sudan since 2019 unfortunately

That's what I would have thought all along. It is interesting that both Sudan itineraries were posted in great detail on the Aggressor website. Both of the Sudan itineraries are still included in the Know Before You Go document Know Before You Go | Aggressor Adventures™ and in the Travel Information https://aggressor.com/kbyg_document/RedSea-Sudan, there is also a FAQ. These trips were 14 days/13 nights. I would imagine that they will be taken down soon.

 

[Bubble99]

Or let us hope democracy and peace will be restored and they can be booked maybe next year?

 

[Mod63]

It is due to the political situation in Sudan since 2019 unfortunately

Before it changed to become an Aggessor, the RE wa still doing trips to Sudan, we did Deep South Sudan in May 2021. I have 2 things come to mind: a) Aggressor is a US company, so that might have an impact, b) the RE was not really in a good shape in 2021 and in need of a larger retrofit.

 

[scubadada]

Interesting, in the May issue of Scuba Diving Magazine, "The Liveaboard Issue", both Sudan itineraries are described for the Red Sea RE Aggressor.

Seems like this decision must have been quite abrupt, not allowing for withdrawal of information like this.

 

[scubajasonr]

The reason for this is now clear. Royal Evolution have posted on their Facebook page that they are no longer part of the Aggressor fleet. The quote from their Facebook page is:

Dear Esteemed Partners, Colleagues & Guests,

We trust that you are all doing well, though we have no doubt that it was very challenging during these very tough times for all of us.

We are pleased to inform you that the license agreement with Aggressor Adventures is no longer in force and has been terminated. The M/S Royal Evolution will resume its own operations as it used to since 2006.

We will be offering four itineraries starting today, all out of from Port Ghalib - Egypt:

- Red Sea Grand tour “Seven nights” ( Brothers, Deadalus, Rocky, Zabargad & St.John )
- Sudan out of Egypt out from Egypt “ Thirteen nights “ .
- Deep south Sudan out from Egypt “ Thirteen nights ”.

We are also delighted to present our new flagship itinerary in Egypt :

- Egypt / Sudan border ( Elba Reef ) – 7 Nights onboard.

We would like to thank you all for the positive & longstanding relationship we maintained in the past and we are looking forward to continue future success.

Thank you for being such an important member to us.

Sincerely yours,

Royal Evolution team


I dived with Royal Evolution last October, a good boat and crew. I was surprised when they announced they were becoming part of Aggressor, equally I am surprised at how short the relationship has been.