Batkivschyna continues Discover Ukraine Expedition

ESSENDON, Australia - The Ukrainian schooner Batkivschyna will continue its Discover Ukraine Expedition by sailing to Australia. The ship, which travels around the world promoting Ukraine, was scheduled to depart from Long Beach, Calif., on June 7.

It will stop at Maui, Hawaii, at the Lahaina Yacht Club. After Hawaii, the Batkivshchyna will sail towards New Zealand and Australia to attend the Tasmania Tall Ship Festival, after receiving an official invitation from the Tasmanian government.

The president of the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organizations (AFUO), Stefan Romankiw, recently spoke with Captain Dmitrii Birioukovitch of the Batkivschyna, who warmly greeted the Ukrainian community in Australia and said he looks forward to meeting them.

The Batkivschyna is now in the fourth year of its trans-global expedition, which it began from Kyiv on April 7, 2000.

The vessel participated in Operation Sail 2000 during the mammoth millennium celebrations in and around New York City.

In 2001 the Batkivschyna journeyed through the Great Lakes, and in 2002 it was in the Caribbean, and, after crossing the Panama Canal, headed up the Pacific coast of the United States.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, June 22, 2003, No. 25, Vol. LXXI

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