FIRST ROUND-THE-WORLD VOYAGE OF A BULGARIAN SHIP
– MOTOR SHIP (MS) “G. S. RAKOVSKI” (23 AUGUST 1963 TO 23 MARCH 1964)
On 23 August 1963, under the command of Captain Ivan Stanchev and Chief Engineer Anani Nankov, the motor ship “G. S. Rakovski” set off from Varna to Cuba. The cargo was 40 threshing machines manufactured in Bulgaria. She crossed the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean and after 21 days reached the Cuban port of Matanzas. During the unloading and loading operations, a message was received about an approaching hurricane with a foreshadowed disaster along the coast. Captain Stanchev telegraphed the port of Havana, requesting shelter there. Although according to the Cuba authorities nothing special would happen, he insisted and after the third radiogram, permission was received for the MS „G. S. Rakovski” to head to the port of Havana. This turned out to be the right decision. The Panamanian ship “Vergolivada” that remained in Matanzas became a victim of the hurricane, along with the entire crew.
After completing the cargo operations, the ship headed for Jamaica and Panama. “G. S. Rakovski” was the first Bulgarian vessel to pass through the Panama Canal. This was followed by a 37-day crossing of the Pacific Ocean. On 4 December 1963 she crossed the 180th meridian, then reached the Chinese port of Dairen near Port Arthur (now part of the city of Dalian), where it unloaded. The ship sailed for Japan, then crossed the Indian Ocean and headed for Europe.
During the voyage, which lasted 210 days, the MS “G. S. Rakovski” travelled over 30 000 miles, crossed three oceans and seventeen seas, visited ports of Cuba, Jamaica, China, Japan, Europe. On her way, she overcame a series of hurricanes. It passed through American naval blockade of Cuba.
The circle of the round-the-world voyage was completed with arrival in Varna on 23 March 1964, where our first „Magelan” ship was solemnly welcomed.
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SECOND ROUND-THE-WORLD VOYAGE OF THE MOTOR SHIP “G. S. RAKOVSKI”
It was undertaken under the command of Captain Lazar Parushev and Chief Engineer Ventsislav Maslarov. The voyage began on 22 April 1964 from Varna, where she was loaded with 10 500 tons of pig iron for Hirohata, Japan. The ship passed through the Suez Canal, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. After refuelling in Singapore on 11 May it headed to Japan. In the Pacific Ocean, she fell into the periphery of Typhoon Daisy and travelled in reduced visibility and constant heavy rolling. In Hirohata she unloaded the pig iron and headed for Cam Pha, Vietnam, where she loaded 10 226 tons of anthracite for Cuba. On the evening of 4 June, she departed for Hong Kong for bunkering and from there via Honolulu to Panama. On 5 June 1964 the ship was in Balboa, the Pacific port of the Panama Canal. After quarantine control for 10 hours, she crossed the canal and continued via Kingston, Jamaica to Cuba. In the Cuban port, Nicaro she unloaded anthracite, then loaded sugar and headed to Europe. The passage from Cuba to Gibraltar was made via Bermuda and the Azores. On 20 August 1964 the MS “G. S. Rakovski” returned to Varna.
During the second round-the-world trip of the MS “G. S. Rakovski”, the voyage was in an eastward direction, 28 498 miles were travelled and 31 410 tons of cargo were transported. Of the 43 crew members, 9 had also participated in the first voyage.
