Inauguration Ceremony of “SUNLAND”

LOGO LLK 200

Inauguration Ceremony of
“SUNLAND”

November 2017

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Giedrius Kalinin  A report by Giedrius Kalninis, Captain of CSLI,
Commander of Kaunas Division

Pictures made by Mr. Antanas Stanevicius

 

Last week in November 2017, many honorable guests attended the inauguration ceremony of the first ship of the Saint Lazarus Lithuania Corps in Klaipėda:

H.E. Kęstutis Kėvalas, Bishop of the Catholic Church of Lithuania,
H
.E. Mindaugas Sabutis, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church,
H.E. Vladimiras Artamonovas, Dean of the Orthodox Church in Lithuania,
Mrs. Irena Šiaulienė, Vice-Chairwoman of Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania,
Mr. Arūnas Mockus, Commander of the Lithuanian Naval Forces, Marine Captain,
Mr. Viktor Senčyla Director of Klaipėda High Nautical School,
Mr. Oleg Skindersky, General Consul of the Republic of Lithuania in Karaliaučius,
Mr. Nikolaj Logvin, Belarussian Honorary Consulate in Klaipeda,
Mr. Dirk Bohlmann, Marine Captain of the German Navy.

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And many other honorable guests.

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On the quay where the vessel SUNLAND was moored, the guests were met with celebratory and vivacious march of the Orchestra of the Lithuanian Naval Forces; the guests were congratulated by the Commander of the Lithuanian Lazarus Corps, Major General Giedrius Petružis, and Captain Angelika Krause, Corps Communications Officer in Austria.

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Bishop Kęstutis Kėvalas hallowed the ship’s flag, which was solemnly raised while the Lithuanian National Hymn was playing. The ceremonial was finished by the solemn oath of the new Lazarus Corps officers, led by Romualdas Ramašauskas, the Corps Chaplain, Marine Captain, and received by Major-General Giedrius Petružis.

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After the ceremonial event, the participants and guests attended the conference, which presented the history and current activities of the international Union of Saint Lazarus, emphasized its special status and role in the United Nations, reviewed significant, coherent and focused structural development work and far looking for the route of the Lazarus Corps of Lithuania based on the project plans and objectives set forth since its establishment in 2014; also the strategy of the organization’s activity and its main goals were presented while developing honorable historian traditions of St. Lazarus formations, socially oriented and civilian security and education-aimed activities in cooperation with state and non-governmental organizations of Lithuania.

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The honored guests of the conference were granted original souvenirs; a special thanks was given to Leonid Stolerov, who is a businessman, owner of the ship SUNLAND, Ukrainian citizen living in Austria.

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The vessel SUNLAND was built in Denmark in 1931. Therefore, it can be said that the vessel is both a historical and a trophy as during the World War II, the ship belonged to the Wehrmacht military forces, and after the war it came back to the Danes. Later the vessel was renovated and adapted for searches of rescue, port quay deepening, as well as for searching of dangerous military heritage, i.e.  sunken projectiles and sea mines. This is the first, but certainly not the last ship sailing with the flag of the Lithuanian Lazarus Corps in Klaipėda and the Baltic States.

Giedrius Kalninis
Captain of CSLI, Commander of Kaunas Division

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Further picture impressions:

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