By
Rebecca Gibson |
Cruise & Maritime Voyages’ Marco Polo made a historic return to Québec on 22 September, 50 years after she first called in the Canadian city as the Alexander Pushkin.
Sailing as Alexander Pushkin, the ship was the first Soviet Union ship to sail on Canada’s St Lawrence River as it inaugurated the first Leningrad-Montréal transatlantic line in April 1966 with 320 crew and 700 passengers onboard. During the ship’s visit to Québec, Captain Aram Organov presented Gilles Lamontagne, the city’s mayor, with a commemorative gift from the mayor of Leningrad.
“The arrival of the MS Marco Polo, formerly the Alexander Pushkin, makes us reminisce about the 1960s, as Canada was preparing to celebrate its 100th anniversary and our society was showing its openness to the world,” said André Kirouac, director at the Naval Museum of Québec. “Relationships were being forged between the world’s port cities, as evidenced by the gift the mayor of Leningrad sent to Mayor Lamontagne in 1966 when the Pushkin chose the Port of Québec as a privileged location for its first stop in Canada.”
Marco Polo’s visit came as part of a 34-day commemorative trip, which started in London, UK and included visits to many ports along the St Lawrence. The ship, which is carrying 343 crew members and 678 passengers, who are mostly English or Dutch, overnighted in Québec City and departed at 6 pm on 23 September.
The ship’s return was celebrated during an event held by the Québec Port Authority and the Naval Museum of Québec.