The world’s largest offshore Book Fair, Logos Hope is currently moored at Harbour City in Hong Kong, she arrived on July 25 and will sail to Taiwan on August 10. After visiting Taiwan, Logos Hope will travel south to end her 4-year Asia tour, and then head to Africa, the Caribbean and South America for an 8-10 year mission.
This is the 4th time for Logos Hope to visit Hong Kong over the last four years. The Managing Director of Logos Hope, Seelan Govender, emphasized at the Official Opening Ceremony on July 27, that the vitality and creativity of Hong Kong people always impressed him.
“Logos” means word, thought, principle or speech in Greek. Logos Hope is 132 meters long with 9 decks. She was built as a passenger and car ferry in 1973, and sailed North Atlantic routes for 10 years, she then sailed between the Faroe Islands and Denmark for another 21 years.
In 2004, the ferry was purchased by GBA (Good Books for All) Ships, a German non-profit Organisation, and renamed as Logos Hope, she sailed to Trogir, Croatia in 2005, where she underwent extensive renovations to upgrade onboard accommodation and install a large book deck.
After outfitting in Kiel, Germany, Køge, in Denmark, and finally in dry dock in Sweden, another 5 years had passed. Logos Hope was transformed from a ferry to a ship and sailed into active service in 2009, with the good intention to bring knowledge, help and hope to others, regardless of their background, religion or creed.
Logos Hope offers a selection of over 5,000 titles, more than half a million books at affordable prices, with local language books also available for each port of call. At the first open-day in Hong Kong, 6,500 people attended the book fair and within a few hours, it had sold thousands of books.
Mr Govender praised the people of Hong Kong for having a good reading culture, however, the Managing Director said that the book sales revenue only covers 20-25% of their operating costs, the remaining revenues come from donations.
There are more than 400 crew members, coming from 50 countries and regions, who serve on the ship as volunteers usually for up to 2 years. These include 5 people from Hong Kong. Captain Dirk Colenbrander encouraged visitors to spend time with the crew members and listen to their stories.
Upcoming ports of call: Taichung (Taiwan), Penang (Malaysia), Yangon (Myanmar), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Port Louis (Mauritius), Toamasina (Madagascar) arriving in Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania) towards the end of January 2016.
