On 12 September 2018 in Vladivostok, during the 4th Eastern Economic Forum, an awards ceremony was held for winners of the SCF Far East Tall Ships Regatta, the title sponsor of which is PAO Sovcomflot.
AS Sovcomflot says in a press release, the ceremony was attended by: Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, under the patronage of which this international competition is held; Shinzo Abe, Japan's Prime Minister; Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China; Lee Nak-yeon, Prime Minister of South Korea and Khaltmaagiin Battulga, President of Mongolia.
Vladimir Putin presented Sergey Vorobiev, Master of the sailing ship Nadezhda, the prize for first place, which the Russian ship won amongst Class A tall ships during the race from Yeosu port (South Korea) to Vladivostok.
Shinzo Abe presented representatives of the sailing ship Koreana (South Korea) with the "International Marine Brotherhood" award. Lee Nak-yeon awarded the crew of Kaiwo Maru (Japan) the prize "For contribution to the development of sailing traditions and seamanship". Seafarers of the sailing ship Qingdao Team (P.R.C.) were awarded the prize "For Will to Win" by Khaltmaagiin Battulga. Xi Jinping presented awards to Sofia Danilenko and Ilya Soloveychik, winners of the children's and youth regatta, in which representatives of regional sailing clubs and schools participated.
A number of the competition's participants also received awards at the regatta’s closing ceremony held the same day at the Korabelnaya embankment in Vladivostok. The event was attended by:
• Igor Tkachenko, Deputy Head of the administration of Vladivostok;
• Igor Tonkovidov, Executive Vice-President and COO/CTO of Sovcomflot;
• Einar Corwin, Race Chairman;
• Mike Bowles, Race Director;
• Mikhail Ermakov, President of the Sailing Federation of the Primorsk Region.
The winner of one of the most prestigious Regatta awards, "Prize of Friendship", for a considerable contribution to the development of international cooperation and mutual understanding was the crew of the tall ship Bima Suci (Indonesia). Igor Tonkovidov also presented the Captain of the Indonesian ship with a special memorable gift in celebration of the first ship's birthday following her construction in September 2017.
The prize for first place in the race of sailing ships of classes B and D was presented to the crew of Koreana. Meanwhile, Ami (Japan) and Komandor Bering (Russia) were awarded the second and the third prizes, respectively.
Within the ceremony the winner of the Future Green Ocean Competition was also announced. It is a competition of photos compiled by the ships' crew and devoted to protection of the sea environment. The winner is Konstantin Nortsev, cadet of the Admiral Nevelskoy Maritime State University, who took part in the Regatta as a member of Nadezhda's crew.
On 14 September the Regatta will end with a Parade of Sails: all participating ships will parade along Amur Bay with sails and dressing flags hoisted.
The main objective of the regatta is to increase interest in the maritime profession among young people, to promote a healthy lifestyle, to support maritime education and to develop international cooperation and good neighbourly relations.
The regatta is organised by Sail Training International and Tall Ship Association of Russia.
PAO Sovcomflot (SCF) is the title sponsor of the regatta. The company pays special attention to water sports that increase young people's interest in the maritime profession. With the support of the company, the international tall ship regattas are held in Russia on a regular basis. The first one was held in the Baltic Region in 2009, with Saint Petersburg being one of the host ports. In 2014 a regatta was held in the Black Sea for the first time, with Novorossiysk and Sochi as participating cities. It was followed by the second SCF Black Sea Tall Ships Regatta 2016 and in 2018 it was decided to hold such a competition in the Asia Pacific for the first time.
Official partners of the Regatta are PJSC Transneft and PAO Sberbank, special partners are Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd., NYK Line, Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co., Ltd., partner of the Regatta events is IPJSC Ingosstrakh. All Regatta events are supported by the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, administration of Primorsky Territory and Vladivostok municipal administration.
PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group) is one of the world's leading shipping companies, specialising in the transportation of crude oil, petroleum products, and liquefied gas, as well as the servicing of offshore oil and gas exploration and production. The company’s own and chartered fleet includes 147 vessels with a total deadweight of 12.7 million tonnes. 79 vessels have an ice class.
Sovcomflot is involved in servicing large oil and gas projects in Russia and around the world: Sakhalin-1; Sakhalin-2; Varandey; Prirazlomnoye; Novy Port; Yamal LNG, and Tangguh (Indonesia). The company is headquartered in Saint Petersburg, with offices in Moscow, Novorossiysk, Murmansk, Vladivostok, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, London, Limassol, and Dubai.