Dar Młodzieży Welcomed Home From Equator Voyage

On 11th November 2023, after a six-month voyage commemorating the crossing of the Equator by Lwów, the sail training ship of the Maritime School in Tczew and the first ship flying the Polish flag to make this spectacular journey, Gdynia Maritime University's sail training ship Dar Młodzieży returned to its home port.

The ship was warmly welcomed home by the Rector of GMU, Professor Adam Weintrit, the Mayor of Gdynia, Dr Wojciech Szczurek, GMU staff and members of the Senate, as well as the family and friends of those on board.

I would like to thank you for coming out in such numbers to celebrate with us," said Rector Professor Adam Weintrit. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the crossing the equator by the "Lwów", the first ship sailing under the white and red flag, we decided to set out on this exceptional voyage. On board were second-year students from the Faculty of Navigation Department, who completed the task of sailing across the equator and returned safely home. In recent weeks, the weather in the North Sea was not the best. We knew when we planned in May for the ship's return on 11 November that it was a risk. However, luckily the ship has returned safely to port today. Thank you all on board. The city should be proud of this ship," added the Rector.

It is a reason for great joy and great pride that on a very symbolic day, 11 November, when all of Poland celebrates our Independence that the tall ship which is the symbol of Maritime Poland returns to its home port after such a historic voyage," announced the Mayor of Gdynia Dr Wojciech Szczurek. To Rector Professor Weintrit and the whole academic community of Gdynia Maritime University, my sincere congratulations for this voyage - it is a remarkable achievement.

On 29 May 2023, Dar Młodzieży set sail from Gdynia on an almost six-month voyage, covering 12,500 nautical miles. On board the ship were Gdynia Maritime University students and a 23-person group of students from the National University "Odessa Maritime Academy". The ports visited by the ship included Bremerhaven, Fredrikstad, Lerwick, Arendal, La Coruna, Lisbon, Cadiz, Mindelo and Horta. As part of its voyage, Dar Młodzieży took part in two Tall Ships Races events, finishing second place in the general classification.

On 28 September 2023 at 19:10 GMT (22:10 in Poland) the Dar Młodzieży crossed the equator in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the crossing of the equator by Lwów - the Maritime School's sail training ship and the first ship flying the Polish flag to make the journey across the equator.

A group of 86 second-year students from the GMU Faculty of Navigation returned to Gdynia on board. The group boarded two months earlier in the Spanish port of Cadiz and spent a total of 35 days working on the watch. Having returned home following the unforgettable experience of a traditional equatorial baptism, the future can now regard themselves as fully fledged sailors.

During the current 248-day season, which the Dar Młodzieży began on 17 March 2023, 118 secondary school pupils undertook seafarer training on board Dar Młodzieży from schools around Poland,

as well as 361 students from: