KALININGRAD, August 20. /TASS/. Russia’s legendary barque Kruzenshtern has wrapped up its 2019 navigation after returning to its home port of Kaliningrad and is planning to launch preparations for its next trans-Atlantic expedition, the press office of the Baltic State Academy of the Fishing Fleet, the ship’s owner, told TASS on Tuesday

During its three voyages as part of its 2019 navigation, a total of 360 cadets of educational institutions of Russia’s Federal Agency for Fishing from various cities, including 18 female students, were trained aboard the barque. The sail training ship spent almost 14 weeks and a half at sea, covering more than 10,000 nautical miles.

"The barque Kruzenshtern moored at the berth of the Kaliningrad Sea Fishing Port on Tuesday. A traditional ceremony of the cadets’ lineup on the training vessel’s deck was held on the occasion of the third voyage’s completion. On Saturday, August 24, the barque will open its doors to all those wishing to visit it," the press office said.

The 2019 navigation was marked by the training vessel’s participation in a series of large-scale international sea festivals. Specifically, during its calls at the French ports of Rouen and Bordeaux, the barque Kruzenshtern was among the main guests of the Rouen Armada festival of sailing ships and the River Festival.

In the German port of Warnemunde, the Kruzenshtern stayed at the invitation of the Hanse Sail festival’s organizers. During its moorage at foreign ports, the Kruzenshtern was open to the public and the Russian cadets became participants in the main festivities. Tours of the landmarks of port cities were organized for them.

Already in mid-September, the repair works are planned to be launched aboard the barque as part of preparations for a large-scale expedition of sail training vessels of Russia’s Federal Agency for Fishing to mark 200 years since the discovery of the Antarctica by the prominent Russian explorers Faddey Bellinsgauzen and Mikhail Lazarev and the 75th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

The expedition involving the windjammer Kruzenshtern and the barque Sedov, which is also operated by the Baltic State Academy of the Fishing Fleet, as well as the frigate Pallada will set its sail in December 2019. The Sedov and the Pallada will embark on a voyage around the globe while the Kruzenshtern will perform a trans-Atlantic transition that will last nine months.

Barque Kruzenshtern

The four-mast barque Kruzenshtern was built at a German Shipyard near Bremerhaven in 1926 and was given the Italian name of the Padua (after the Italian city). The windjammer was listed among the world’s ten largest sail ships. It was surrendered to the Soviet Union in 1946 in WWII reparations and renamed after the 19th-century Russian admiral and explorer Ivan Kruzenshtern. The barque was re-equipped as a training vessel with a modern engine.

Over its 93-year history, the barque has made two round-the-globe voyages, as well as a trans-Atlantic expedition, and won many international sailing races. This is the world’s last classical barque initially built for voyages solely under sail without any additional engines and power generators. Over the years of its operation, more than 17,000 cadets have undergone maritime training on its board and acquired their first maritime professional skills.