02.10.2019

«The one will win who knows when to fight and when not to»

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Mikhail Novikov, Captain-mentor of the training sailing vessels Sedov and Kruzenshtern reported at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the upcoming round-the-world expedition dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the discovery of Russian sailors Antarctica and the 75th anniversary of the Victory over fascism.
The meeting was organized on World Maritime Day by the Community of wives of Russian diplomats with the participation of the Association of Russian diplomats of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Administration of Affairs (Department). As the representative of the Community and moderator of the conversation Marina Dalmatova noted, the Association was founded on March 1, 2018. It has already managed to show its worth humanitarian and cultural fields.

"Russia owns five of the largest training sailing vessels in the world, three of them are managed by Rosrybolovstvo. The ships are the sites of sea practice for cadets from different educational institutions of the Federal Agency. In accordance with the instructions of the country's leadership, Rosrybolovstvo formed the concept of the round-the-world expedition in honour of the 200th anniversary of the discovery of Antarctica and the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Simultaneous sailing of all three sailing vessels is planned. The largest training sailing vessels of the world Sedov and Kruzenshtern at the end of the world tour will celebrate anniversaries: in 2021 the barques will turn 100 and 95 respectively. Such age undoubtedly emphasizes the importance of the upcoming event,"- said Mikhail Novikov.

En route the sailing vessels will call at more than 40 ports of foreign countries of North and South America, Africa, Europe and Oceania. Each port call will be accompanied with cultural events on board and on shore.

Mikhail Novikov noted that, in addition to the idea of repeating (to the most extent) round-the-world voyage of Faddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev to the southern continent, the crews got a difficult and ambitious task "Our seafarers will remind the world about the role of Russian explorers and the national Maritime traditions. We will have to demonstrate the high level of training of new generations of Russian seafarers," said Novikov.

The expedition is also an opportunity for more than 600 cadets and about 60 shipboys to have the sea practice within the framework of a state program supported by the Russian Fleet Development Fund.

The frigate Pallada will be the first to put to sea: the vessel will leave Vladivostok on November 1, the length of her route will be more than 27 thousand nautical miles. The ship will be under command of a very experienced Master Nikolai Zorchenko, who has already had several expeditions under his belt.

Sedov and Kruzenshtern will leave Kaliningrad in early December. The Sedov will have the longest voyage, it will spend more than a year at sea. The barque will return to her home port on December 12, 2020. The Kruzenshtern will take up a shortened voyage, nevertheless her transatlantic route will be 10-month long. In February, the three ships will meet in the Antarctic part of the Atlantic for three-day joint maneuvering at 50 degrees of South latitude.

After that, the Kruzenshtern will sail along the Black Sea coast, visit Sevastopol, Yalta and Sochi, where commemorative events in honour of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War will be organized.

Nikolay Zorchenko, Master of the Pallada, addressed the participants of the meeting with a video greeting - he also briefly told about the upcoming event.

Lyudmila Vostrikova, a wife of the adviser-envoy in North Korea, expressed gratitude to the team of Rosrybolovstvo and admiration for the beauty and grandeur of the Pallada (a frequent guest of Korean ports). She brought video messages from schoolchildren from the Embassy school in Pyongyang (North Korea) and the Russian grammar school in Busan (South Korea).

"We are all passionate about geography, adventures, travels. We are happy to meet the Captain of the legendary sailing ship Kruzenshtern. We are sure that there are still unexplored Islands on our globe. If you discover a new island during your upcoming expedition, how will you call it?"- one of school kids from Embassy school in Pyongyang asked.

The Captain-mentor replied that the island would be called "Victory", but he doubted the probability of such a discovery – all the sailing routes had long been known and only the sea remained unpredictable. "When discovering new lands, one should always think about the consequences," made a humorous remark Mikhail Novikov .

A lot of questions followed Novikov's speech. The public was interested in a number of aspects. Mr Novikov had to answer the questions about women participation in the circumnavigation, about his attitude to women on board, about overcoming a fear during a storm, about existence of tall ships traditions etc.

According to the Captain-mentor these are the traditions which help to follow a certain procedure or algorithm in extreme situations and not to fall intro panic. "Exercises and other physical activity work well after stress. When we have long passages we have to improvise. "The sea is a tool for hardening one's spirit, for checking your abilities. It gives you an opportunity to explore your real potential by testing your limit. The ancient Chinese treatise formulated an important principle of victory: The one will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. I think it is very useful to apply this saying at sea, " added Mikhail Novikov .

At the end of the meeting Mikhail Novikov was handed a picture of the frigate Pallada and a note of thanks for holding a meeting at the highest professional level. The meeting was dedicated to the upcoming circumnavigation of Russian sailing vessels in honor of the 200th anniversary of the discovery of Antarctica and the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

Source: The press service of the Rosrybolovstvo
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