A Symbol of Friendship and Cooperation |
I met my interlocutor, former senator of the Malaysian parliament Jaziri Alkaf Abdillah Suffian, in September of last year in Moscow at the First World Public Summit.
– Mr. Jaziri, in December 2024, Russian media reported that a Russian wooden sailing ship was in distress off the coast of Malaysia.
– The story of the Russian ship “Palomnik” (“Pilgrim”) – a historical replica of a 16th–18th century Pomor sailing boat – is one of resilience, culture, and unity. Built at the “Polar Odyssey” Maritime Center in Petrozavodsk (Russia), this sailing vessel has been on a circumnavigation since 2017 under the command of Captain Sergey Sinelnik, an Honored Traveler of Russia and member of the Russian Geographical Society. It has crossed the equator twice, visited 21 countries, and sailed over 23,000 nautical miles through Europe and the Atlantic, across the Great Lakes of North America, along the Pacific coasts of Canada, Alaska, Kamchatka, the Kuril Islands, Japan, the Philippines, Borneo, and finally to Sarawak in Malaysia.
The Pilgrim is more than just a ship. On board is a floating museum of Russian wooden architecture and shipbuilding, with models spanning centuries of maritime history. Visitors see vessels from first-millennium boats to Pomor “koch” boats, each a testament to craftsmanship and endurance. Captain Sinelnik has given lectures in many ports, sharing Russia’s maritime heritage with audiences often discovering it for the first time. Everywhere, the reception has been warm – proof that culture speaks a universal language.
The expedition project of the Pilgrim boat
– Fate brought the Pilgrim to Sarawak last year, where it struck a rock in the Oya River in the Mukah district, sustaining a hole in its hull…
– For months, the question of whether to repair and continue the voyage or to leave the vessel as a memorial and........