On a three-master near Marseille, Russians and Ukrainians adapt together to the challenges of the seas
Vdrunk and take up the challenges of the seas together: on the quays of the Mediterranean town of Port-de-Bouc, near Marseille, a majestic three-master, training ship, brings together a multinational crew, including Ukrainians and Russians opposed to the war waged by Moscow.
With its imposing lion-shaped bow, wooden hull and 33-metre masts thrown back from ecru sails, the Shtandart is a replica of an 18th-century ship that belonged to the Baltic Sea fleet in the time of the Tsar and Emperor Peter the Great of Russia (1672-1725).
It was in 1994 that a team of volunteers passionate about history, navigation and manual know-how set about building the copy of the initial Shtandart in Saint Petersburg (northern Russia).
Launched in 2000, the three-master has been sailing for years across the seas of Europe as a training ship and participates in festivals of old rigs, from Finland to Greece via the Netherlands.
Opposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, its captain, Vladimir Martus, has not returned to Russia for years.
Since the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the ship has shown its solidarity with the Ukrainian people by flying the yellow and blue flag, alongside those of the other countries of the crew members: Russia, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Ireland, Germany.
“Here on the boat, we are like a family made up of several nations. At sea, we have challenges (…) which we can only solve if we work together”, confides to AFP Vladimir Martus.
Without hesitation, he was welcomed at the edge of Ukrainian refugees, including 33-year-old Ekaterina Gopenko. She had decided to join the ship in January, before the invasion, to have an experience on a three-master.
“When the war started I was coming here and when I arrived I realized that I had no place to go because I couldn’t go back to Ukraine. So the captain told me said I could stay here as long as I wanted,” she told AFP.
“Brotherhood Message”
“I think that’s how people had to live all over the world. Not just on ships or in space stations where we don’t care about passports. What people are interested in is +Does you are a good person, do you work hard, who are you? + “It has nothing to do with the color of your skin, your religion or your passport”, she continues.
Shocked by the war in Ukraine, one of the Russian crew members, who prefers to keep her name silent, affirms, tears welling up at the edge of her blue eyes, that not all Russians need the invasion.
She recounts with emotion how a concert in support of the Ukrainian people was organized on board, with a Ukrainian singer. The crew members also made donations to send emergency aid to the country at war, via their liaison officer Ludovic Pacciarella.
Due to its Russian flag, however, the ship fears that it will no longer be able to be hosted at European festivals or even in ports, since a European directive drastically reduces access to Russian boats.
“However, it is not an oil tanker, it is not the yacht of an oligarch. The message that this boat sends is magnificent these days”, notes Laurent Belsola, mayor of Port-de-Bouc .
“The captain, his father is Russian, his mother is Ukrainian, there are six or seven nationalities who live together in complete brotherhood, they are against the war”, continues the city councilor of this city of 18,000 inhabitants, many of whom come from Greek, North African or Spanish immigration.
So this city, which in 1947 had hosted the Exodus for several weeks and its 4,500 Holocaust survivors trying in vain to reach Palestine under British mandate, mobilized to welcome the Shtandart.
The tourist office promises organized visits, led by the captain every day.
“It’s good, because we hear a lot about the war, but here we also see Russians and Ukrainians living together,” says Mélina Julie, a teenager visiting Marseille.
Vladimir Martus hopes one day to be able to return to Russia: “Putin is not eternal. And therefore there will come a time when the country will have to be restored (…) towards more understanding, friendship and goodwill.”
02/05/2022 09:43:52 – Port-de-Bouc (France) (AFP) – © 2022 AFP