KALININGRAD, June 3. /TASS/. Russia’s legendary barque Kruzenshtern completed its trans-Atlantic voyage as part of the round-the-world expedition of sail ships organized by Russia’s Federal Agency for Fishing and moored at its home port of Kaliningrad, the expedition’s media center told TASS on Wednesday.

The round-the-world expedition "Sails of the World 2020" is devoted to the 200th anniversary of the discovery of the Antarctica by Russian explorers and the 75th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

"After an almost six-month voyage in maritime and oceanic latitudes, the barque Kruzenshtern arrived in Kaliningrad, from which it set off for its trans-Atlantic voyage on December 8, 2019, and moored at the 18th berth of the sea fishing port, its customary place for many years," the media center’s spokesperson said.

The barque’s crew and cadets will line up on its board on Wednesday afternoon in a ceremonial formation to mark the voyage’s completion, the interlocutor said.

Over its voyage, the barque covered almost 24,000 nautical miles, made calls at seven ports of four countries and received over 10,000 guests on its board, according to the spokesperson.

Initially, the barque was scheduled to complete its trans-Atlantic voyage on September 3. However, the original schedule was adjusted due to the coronavirus pandemic that swept, among other areas, the countries and the port cities which the sail ship was expected to visit. For this reason, the barque’s calls at these places were excluded from its itinerary.

Considering the difficult epidemiological situation and the fact that Russia postponed most festivities devoted to the 75th anniversary of the Victory to later dates, as well as for the purpose of preserving the health of the crewmembers and cadets, the expedition’s command made a decision that the training ship Kruzenshtern would sail from the port of Novorossiysk where it moored on April 22 as part of its trans-Atlantic voyage to Kaliningrad to wrap up its voyage.

Round-the-world expedition and the barque Kruzenshtern

Three Russian sail training ships: the Pallada, the Kruzenshtern and the Sedov took part in the round-the-world voyage organized by Russia’s Federal Agency for Fishing and devoted to the 200th anniversary of the discovery of the sixth continent by the first Russian Antarctic expedition led by Faddey Bellingshausen 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 Pallada embarked on its voyage on November 1 from the port of Vladivostok while the Sedov and the Kruzenshtern set their sail from Kaliningrad on December 8.

The frigate Pallada and the barque Sedov arrived at the port of Vladivostok on June 3. This Far Eastern port became a final point for the Pallada on its round-the-world voyage while the Sedov will continue its expedition and return to its home port of Kaliningrad in October.

The four-masted 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. She 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 94-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.