After the Six Day War in June 1967, the Suez Canal in Egypt was closed.

It meant 14 ships from eight different countries, including the United States, Bulgaria and France, were trapped in an area called the Great Bitter Lake.

They would remain there for eight years, and would become known as the ‘yellow fleet’.

Two of the ships were the MS Melampus and MS Agapenor.

Former assistant steward, Phil Saul, worked on both and was in charge of looking after the engineers and officers.

He speaks to Megan Jones.

His book is called Skinning Out: My time at sea and jumping ship in New Zealand.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

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(Picture: Catering crowd on the Melampus. Credit: Phillip Saul)