School Ship í‹lva en route back from the Caribbean

Paul Bishop (right) with the crew and trainees on board í‹lva

The Swedish 44 metre Class A Tall Ship í‹lva visited Gosport, UK recently on her way home to Stockholm from the Caribbean.

She was the last sailing cargo ship in Sweden and was still actively plying  trade around the Baltic when she was redesigned and converted to a passenger ship in the 1980s after 50 years of commercial service. Her ‘cargo’ in recent years has taken the form of students from the Danderyd’ Maritime Centre near Stockholm, which is a upper-secondary school and adult education centre. The school takes around 400 pupils and provides courses in Marine Biology, Leadership and Communication and Maritime Engineering.  

Paul Bishop and Francoise Pinget from Sail Training International were invited on board í‹lva during the ship’ stop-over in Gosport and were given a warm welcome by all on board and an extensive tour around the three-masted schooner. Paul Bishop, Head of Race Directorate said äóìí‹lva is one of a handful of Tall Ships from round the World dedicated to running trans-oceanic and other long voyages as part of a formal secondary educational programme. We were informed that the teachers on board plan their courses based on a holistic view of learning allowing the students to work on projects within multi subject areas. It was a pleasure to meet the students, teachers and permanent crew on board and we are delighted that the organisation is considering joining the Class A Tall Ships Forum and Blue Flag Scheme for Sail Training Vesselsäó.