For months his arrival had been constantly questioned. The Shtandart, a replica of Tsar Peter the Great’s Russian frigate, will nevertheless be part of the Brest 2024 maritime festivals which begin on July 12. And this despite European sanctions against Russia.
Registered in Saint Petersburg, the ship, with both Russian and Ukrainian crew, whose captain-owner has always positioned himself against the war in Ukraine, nevertheless began to pose a problem to the authorities. It also provoked the ire of an association (No Standard in Europe) formed to prevent its stopovers.
The solution has just been found: it now flies the flag of the Cook Islands! “We met the captain, Vladimir Marius (a regular at the maritime festivals of Brest and Douarnenez, where he had also been authorized in 2022), tells the Brest 2024 team. He is delighted to have been able to find this solution , which became official last week. The Atlantic maritime prefecture, in Brest, gave its agreement, as all the lights were green. »
As a reminder, a decision from the General Secretariat of the Sea had, on April 12, established in principle the ban on any vessel under the Russian flag in French ports, unless it changes country of registration. A decision misunderstood by the crew of the 34.5 m long three-masted ship, which has been sailing around the world and maritime festivities of all kinds since its construction.
In 2022, for the Temps-Fête de Douarnenez, his arrival had already posed a problem. “The Shtandart is certainly registered in Russia… but has not returned there for almost fifteen years,” Maël Terry, the maritime coordinator of the Douarnenez festivals, told us at the time. Vladimir Martus has been criticizing Putin’s regime for a long time…” It will, in any case, and once again, be one of the four “historic” large sailing ships that can be visited (with the Belem, which carried the Olympic flame to the France), from July 12 to 17, for the Brest maritime festivals, where a thousand sailboats and old rigging are expected.
