Sechstagekrieg

The Sechstagekrieg is a historical turning point in the novel’s background because its aftermath leaves ships of the Reederei von Dohren fleet stranded in the Suez Canal. The war itself is not described here; the narrative emphasizes how the canal’s closure turns distant political events into a costly, unresolved crisis for a Hamburg shipping business.

The Canal Closure

In 1967, Egypt closed the Suez Canal in response to the Sechstagekrieg. Ships that happened to be in the canal when it was shut became trapped there. The account gives no further military or diplomatic detail, keeping attention on the closure and its consequences for those caught in its path.

The Yellow Fleet and the Shipping Crisis

One of the eleven ships in the Reederei von Dohren fleet is among those stuck in the canal. By the time of the narration, the blockade has lasted seven years and cost the company enormous sums. The stranded vessels, their decks covered by fine yellow desert sand blown there by the wind, are known as the Yellow Fleet. What initially seemed an absurd historical coincidence has become a long-running liability whose end no one dares predict.

Significance in the Novel

The episode links geopolitical uncertainty to the decline of the family business. The Yellow Fleet is a visible measure of a crisis beyond the company’s control: its ships remain immobilized while costs accumulate and the duration of their confinement remains unknowable. The Sechstagekrieg thus enters the narrative less as a battlefield history than as the beginning of an extended commercial predicament.