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HISTORY
 The
STS Sedov (Russian: Седов), formerly the Magdalene Vinnen II
(1921–1936) and the Kommodore Johnsen (–1948), is a 4-masted steel
barque that for almost 80 years was the largest traditional sailing
ship in operation. Originally built as a German cargo ship, the Sedov
is today a sail training vessel, training cadets from the universities
of Murmansk, Saint Petersburg and Arkhangelsk. She participates
regularly in the big maritime international events as a privileged
host and has also been a regular participant in the The Tall Ships'
Races.
Magdalene Vinnen II
The Sedov, originally named the Magdalene Vinnen II, was launched in
Kiel in 1921 at the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft at Kiel, Germany,
for the shipping company F. A. Vinnen & Co. of Bremen, one of the
largest German shipping companies at the beginning of the 20th
century. The shipping company initially objected to have an engine
installed in the ship, but the ship yard (with backing from a
Government committee) successfully argued for an engine, making the
ship the first sailing ship with auxiliary engine designed to modern
principles.
The Magdalene Vinnen II was at the time the world’s largest auxiliary
barque and exclusively used as a cargo ship with a crew that was
partially made up of cadets. She sailed on her maiden voyage on
September 1, 1921. Her voyage took her from Bremen via Cardiff, where
she took on coal, to Buenos Aires. Despite bad weather, the journey
from England to Argentina with holds full of coal took just 30 days.
The Magdalene Vinnen II carried all sorts of cargo: apart from coal,
she took timber from Finland, wheat from Australia, pyrite from Italy
and unit load from Belgium. The four-masted barque made two voyages
around Cape Horn to Chile. Until her last voyage under the Vinnen flag
in 1936, the ship sailed to Argentina, South Africa, Australia,
Reunion and the Seychelles.
Kommodore Johnsen
On August 9, 1936, the Magdalene Vinnen II was sold to Norddeutscher
Lloyd, Bremen and renamed the Kommodore Johnsen. The new owner
modified her to a cargo-carrying training ship. More accommodation was
provided, as the ship, apart from her permanent crew, was to have a
complement of 50 to 60 trainee officers on each journe
Sedov
The Sedov on the North Sea Canal
during SAIL Amsterdam 2010
She came under Russian state ownership after the surrender of Germany
— on December 20, 1945, the British handed over the ship to the Soviet
Union as war reparation. In the Soviet Union, she was converted into a
sail training vessel of the Soviet Navy. Renamed the Sedov after the
Arctic explorer Georgy Sedov who died during an investigation in the
Arctic in 1914, she was used as a training ship of the Navy from 1952
to 1957. She made several friendly visits to South America and Africa
during this period. From 1957 to 1966 she was used as an oceanographic
research ship in the North Atlantic. During these voyages, the Soviet
Navy also used her for training of young cadets. In 1966 when she was
transferred to the reserve in Kronstadt, formally under the civil
ownership of the Ministry of Fisheries. In the 1970s, she was only
infrequently used as a training ship, sailing in the Gulf of Finland.
In 1981, the Sedov reappeared after renovation which had new features
added such as a glass-domed banquet hall with a stage and a movie
theater. She was now based at the Baltic Division of Training Ships in
Riga. She embarked cadets from schools of navigation of Kaliningrad
and Murmansk. After the declaration of independence of Latvia in 1991,
she left Riga for Murmansk, transferred to the Murmansk naval school
with the city of Murmansk ensuring her management and maintenance.
Sedov has regularly been targeted by unpaid creditors of the Russian
Federation such as Nissim Gaon (of now defunct Swiss group NOGA, an
anagram of Gaon) and also by French holders of defaulted Russian
bonds; in 2002 Sedov was forced to precipitously and unexpectedly
leave Marseilles in the dead of night to avoid being served a writ by
AFPER (French association of holders of Russian Empire bonds) the
following morning.
For over a year French holders of defaulted Russian bonds have been
warning they were going to reorganize and export their claim to
Anglo-Saxon jurisdictions, more friendly to private citizens than the
French.
In May 2008, in the wake of British-Russian tension, Sedov was
instructed by Moscow not to dock as planned at Southend on Sea. The
September 2008 visit to Falmouth, the starting point of FUNCHAL 500
race to Madeira, also seems to be in jeopardy.
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