2013 SU Update: Kazan 2013 Flag sets off on Round-the-World Sail

The Sedov

KAZAN – The famous four-mast bark ‘Sedov’ sailed out of St. Petersburg for a world cruise on May 20, 2012. Special representatives of the 27th Summer Universiade will travel by ship with the Kazan 2013 Flag flying on the mainmast.

On May 18th the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate signed an agreement with Murmansk State Technological University, the owner of the bark Sedov. Under the agreement, the Universiade Flame housed in a special container will sail on the ship around the world. The document was signed by Arkady Karbaev, Director of the Department of Cultural and Social Programmes of the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate, and Alexander Ershov, Rector of Murmansk State Technological University.

The special container with the Flame setting off on a trip (the Flame will travel from Brest to St. Petersburg), the Universiade Torch Relay officially launches a series of celebrations and activities aimed at promoting and developing the ideas of the 2013 Games and a healthy way of life. The Flame will be transported across five continents, 51 cities of the world. It is expected that after the Universiade Torch will be lit, a symbolical number of 2013 torchbearers will carry it, passing it to each other.

The ship will go on a world cruise on the trails of great Russian explorers. After studying the diaries and routes of outstanding national sailors, it was decided that the bark Sedov will repeat the expeditions that are known not only in Russia but also all over the world.

The four-mast Sedov will be away from its home port for 394 days and will call at 32 ports in 20 countries; the estimate distance that the ship is to cover is 42,207 nautical miles.

The round-the-world trip will come to an end in June 2013, just prior to the Summer Universiade. The ‘Mumiy Troll’ Russian rock band also joined the crew for the world cruise. The musicians promise to return from the trip with a new album and a 40-minutes documentary, capturing all the experiences of this unique nautical adventure.

(Source: Media Department of Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate)