An impressive view of sail training vessel ‘Sørlandet’ under full sail. (CST photo)
MARIGOT--Caribbean Sail Training (CST) announced Monday that the Port of Marigot will host once again one of their member vessels, the full-rigged tall ship Sørlandet, on the Galisbay pier on Sunday, February 9, for an open ship day with free access for the general public.
The Norwegian full-rigged Sørlandet is the newest member of the association which counts more than 70 vessels as CST members. Sørlandet sails basically with youngsters of A+ World Academy.
In cooperation with CST, Maritime School of the West Indies (MSWI) and Sørlandet, Cécilia Pivin (16) from St. Martin and Claudia Vazquez (14) from Puerto Rico have been accepted to sail along during a six-week training voyage offered free of cost starting in Marigot on February 12 and ending in New York on March 24, with a stop in Jamaica on their way to the USA.
The 64.15-metre/210.5-foot sail training vessel Sørlandet will be open to the public for viewing from 10:00am until 4:00pm. The ship will be docked at the Galisbay Pier in Marigot (commercial harbour).
Visitors will have to park their cars outside the harbour and a shuttle will transport them to the vessel and bring them back. Walking or cars entering the port are strictly forbidden, as well as smoking in the port.
Sørlandet is the world’s oldest and most authentic fully-rigged ship still in active service. The ship was built in Kristiansand, Norway, in 1927 as a full-rigged ship for training young people for the merchant marine.
As the demand for regular training of young seamen decreased in the 1070s, she extended her activities to welcome the general public on board. The name Sørlandet comes from the southern region of Norway – it means the southern land.
The ship is classified 1A1* in the NORSKE VERITAS and has all necessary certificates for worldwide trade. Her capacity is 70 trainees.
A+ World Academy is a university preparatory AP® secondary school offering an international AP® Capstone Diploma, and classes are taught onboard the sail training vessel Sørlandet while the ship sails to different locations around the world and simultaneously trains the cadets in maritime history, safety, and sail training.
The 2019-2020 voyage plan started in Kristiansand, Norway, and visits France, Spain, Italy, Morocco, Canary Islands, the Cabo Verde Islands, Brazil, Barbados, St. Martin/St. Maarten, Jamaica, New York, USA, the Azores, the Netherlands and back to Norway.
