Thursday, February 4 – A welcome party and a chance for secondary school students to tour Training Ship Kennedy are among the events planned in honour of the February 5 – 9 visit by the ship.

The Virgin Islands Shipping Registry (VISR) will host a welcome party for the ship’s officers, cadets and crew at the Noel Lloyd/Positive Action Movement Park on Friday, February 5 from 5 p.m. The event will feature remarks from Permanent Secretary in the Premier’s Office Mrs. Rosalie Adams, Director of the VISR, Captain Baboucar Sallah and Master of the T.S. Kennedy Captain Thomas L. Bushy.

There will also be live entertainment from the BVI Grasshoppers, BVI Sky Dancers and the Cadet Corps among others.

On Monday, February 8, up to 100 secondary school students between the ages of 15 and 17 will have the opportunity to go on board the ship for a guided tour and demonstration of some equipment by some of the cadets. The students will represent five secondary schools in the Territory, namely the Bregado Flax Educational Centre, Cedar International, the Elmore Stoutt High School, Seventh Day Adventist and St. George’s Secondary.

In arranging for the visit by the secondary school students, Chief Marine Surveyor at the VISR, Captain Pat Narawatne, who heads the committee coordinating the visit, described it as “an invaluable opportunity for secondary school children to visit the training ship to see for themselves what marine training is all about.”

Captain Nawaratne also stated that the tour of the ship and the demonstrations conducted would serve as a “supplementary event to the annual Boating Safety Week activities which serve to highlight the importance of safety at sea as well as expose students to the various career paths that can be pursued.”

Tortola is the second port of call for Training Ship Kennedy since leaving the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. The ship will depart on Tuesday, February 9 for her next port of call, which is Miami.

The promotion of maritime safety is one of the primary goals of the Virgin Islands Shipping Registry which also addresses issues such as the prevention of marine pollution, maritime security, seafarers’ qualification and marine accident investigations.