Sea

© Vytautas Petrikas photo

Spausdinti   Supplement to article

The unveiling of monument Albatross showed that Klaipeda does not value good initiatives. The Port Authority which built the monument using its own funds received an angry letter from Captains’ Club. The ceremony of unveiling was called a political farce. In the future, the members of Captains’ Club will not participate. Captains were insulted that they were not allowed to speak in the monument unveiling event. The CEO of Klaipeda State Sea Port Authority Eugenijus Gentvilas claimed that it is a shame when after doing a great work, you receive harsh criticisms. As a result, you are discouraged.

“We were pleased and proud to take initiative and build a monument for the memory of seamen. I think that the opening ceremony was good and we have also managed to publish a beautiful publication about the deceased seamen,” – claimed Mr. Gentvilas. He said that he cannot change the fact that both the Minister of Transport and Klaipeda Mayor are both politicians. “We tried not to be very political and decided to invite former Minister of Transport Algirdas Butkevicius, who contributed a lot for the monument, but he is also a politician,” – considered Mr. Gentvilas.

He assured that the Port Authority’s marketing service talked over about the ceremony with the Vice-President of Captains’ Club. Then, there were no wish to have a speech by Captains’ Club member. For most spectators, it was good that there were not many speakers in the ceremony because it was a rainy and windy day. Long and boring speeches in such circumstances are not needed. The monument of Albatross has a purpose to unite people and not to destroy it. It remains to hope that the monument will not be rejected but accepted into the hearts of seamen and inhabitants of Klaipeda.