Having Crossed Two Oceans and 10 Seas Vessel "Nadezhda" Reaches Shores of Europe

Having crossed two oceans and ten seas, the Russian sailing vessel Nadezhda reaches the shores of Europe. The sailing vessel has entered Gibraltar, the Vostok-Media information agency reported on Tuesday. In the course of two and a half months Nadezhda crossed the Pacific and Indian Oceans and covered the distance of approximately 11,370 nautical miles.

The round-the-world voyage by the Nadezhda training ship of the Admiral Nevelsky State Marine University is dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the first world-encircling by Russian sailors on board the Nadezhda and the Neva vessels that was carried out in 1803-1806, RIA Novosti reported earlier.

The present-day Nadezhda, registered at the port of Vladivostok, boards 165 sailors, including 90 3rd-year students of Moscow University's navigation department.

After docking at Pusan /the Republic of Korea/ and Singapore, the Nadezhda entered the Indian Ocean, heading for Colombo /Sri Lanka/ to pause on March 4th-6th, 2003 there.

On March 21st the Nadezhda made a scheduled call at Aden /Yemen/. In view of a tense situation in the region /the outbreak of hostilities in Iraq/ the crew was not permitted to land.

On March 29th the Nadezhda arrived at Suez /Egypt/, where landing was not permitted either. At night the crew was provided with fresh water and fuel. Passing the Suez Canal on March 30th the Nadezhda entered the Mediterranean Sea by midnight.

Carrying out planned scientific research, the Nadezhda sailed through the Strait of Messina between Sicily and Calabria, then southward of Sardinia and the Balearic Islands and to Gibraltar.

Before arriving at the port one of the cadets showed the symptoms of appendicitis. To put him out of harm's way Captain Vladimir Vasilenko decided to call at the nearest port of Almeria, Spain.

Early on April 13th 19-year-old Mikhail Chizh on board a rescue boat was delivered to a hospital. The Nadezhda advanced to the port of Gibraltar. In the afternoon of April 13th the cadet was reported to have been operated on and to be out of danger.

The crew is heading for the Atlantic Ocean. There are still 2,850 nautical miles to St.Petersburg, the finishing post of the first stage of the circumnavigation. The vessel is scheduled to arrive on May 10th, 2003.