The participants of the round-the-world expedition together with a descendant of Krusenstern had a meeting in Malmö

On July 17 a meeting with the crew of the Russian Ocean Way trimaran was held in Malmo. Evgeny Kovalevsky and Stanislav Beryozkin told the residents of Sweden and Denmark about their unique expedition from conception to implementation, answered questions about life on the ocean, and then gave everyone a tour of the ship. The meeting was also attended by a descendant of the navigator and circumnavigator I.F. Krusenstern, who told about the great great-great-great-great grandfather and gave an interview to the travelers. At the meeting, agreements on mutual cooperation between the Tomsk branch of the RGS and Danish and Swedish organizations were signed.

The expedition Russian Ocean Way, which started July 1, originally did not plan to call at the port of Malmo, another Swedish city. The planned itinerary called for a stop in Copenhagen, but it did not take place due to covidual restrictions in the country, so it was decided to meet in Malmö, which is a 20-minute drive from the Danish capital.

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Citizens of southern Sweden met travelers very warmly: compatriots Anton Suchov and Marina Mikhatskaya provided Stanislav, Evgeny and Ruslan with lodging in the house, the head of the Society for strengthening contacts with Russia, Ukraine and Belarus SKRUV. Niklas Bennemark took upon himself organizational issues of the meeting with travelers, and also gave the crew a tour of Malmö sights.

The meeting with round-the-world sailors was held together with the Coastal Center in Tomsk (head of BC — Julia Kalyuzhnaya) in the sports and leisure center Kockum Fritid.  People from Denmark and other Swedish cities, representatives of Russian societies abroad and the Consulate General came to Malmö. The meeting was also webcast via Zoom platform.The meeting was moderated by Marina Pavlova-Kjems, the head of Russian children’s center Kolokolchik.

Evgeny and Stanislav told about their travel experiences, in particular about the previous round-the-world trip on a catamaran (2006-2013).Travelers told about their small motherland — Siberia, presented the tourist route Golden Ring of Siberia (We discover Siberia), developed by the Tomsk branch of the RGS under the leadership of Yulia Kalyuzhnaya.  The expedition participants answered questions from the audience with humor and ease:

— What’s it like to be away from your family, and how did you tell your relatives that you will be back only in two years?

— Thank God we already had houses built, trees planted, and children raised. That’s why we were able to agree with our wives,» laughs Captain Stanislav Berezkin.

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After that the travelers passed the floor to Alexander Prischepov, a direct descendant of Ivan Fyodorovich Krusenstern. Four times great-grandson of the great admiral lives in Denmark, is a professor of geography at the University of Copenhagen. Alexander told about the contribution of the Russian navigators into world science and history, shared his experience in popularization and preservation of the historical memory of Ivan Krusenstern. Later Alexander gave an interview to the crew for the TV-channel — My Planet. 

Attache of Consulate General of Russia in Sweden Nikita Fesyuk greeted the crew: «Such meetings help to strengthen bilateral ties between the countries. Thank you for enlightening our youth,» — said a representative of the consulate. In addition, the meeting in Malmo was attended by the head of the Russian Society in Denmark Irina Ivanchenko. Irina expressed the hope that the expedition would be able to visit Copenhagen on the way back and gave the crew a letter from the Royal Danish Geographical Society. On behalf of the Tomsk branch of the RGS first deputy chairman Evgeny Kovalevsky signed agreements on mutual cooperation with the Russian Society in Denmark, Society for strengthening contacts with Russia, Ukraine and Belarus SKRUV and working under its aegis children center Kolokolchik, public organization from Helsingborg and personally with Alexander Prischepov.

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After the official part of the event, the travelers invited the locals to a trimaran, where they showed them what their everyday life consisted of and even shared their typical dinner with the guests.

«Today’s meeting in Malmo with the sailors, members of the Russian Geographical Society Evgeny and Stanislav, was really an event for our Russian-speaking community in southern Sweden,» shared Jana Mitskevich, who came to the meeting from Helsingborg, Sweden, «Children, of course, will remember most of all the opportunity to visit the trimaran. On leaving, my child roared and insisted that he wanted to sail on a boat with his uncles,» she said with a laugh.

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The crew sails on July 19 to the shores of Germany. Evgeny Kovalevsky and Stanislav Beryozkin report operational information to the Coastal Center.

Photo: Marina Mikhatskaya

Elizaveta Shaimbaeva