A Russian sailing ship has docked in Patras until April 2, on a visit leading to a twinning between the Greek port city and Kaliningrad, the home of the Russian Baltic fleet. The “Kruzenshtern” was built at Bremerhaven in 1926 for the German commercial fleet. It was turned over to the Soviet Union in 1946 in compensation for World War II losses. It is 115m long, 14m wide and 7m deep. Its crew consists of 60 permanent staff and 115 officers in training from the University of Kaliningrad. Officials signed the twinning agreement at a ceremony held at Patras’ Port Authority on Tuesday, before a monument to the Greek-Russian friendship was unveiled. Crew members paid a visit to the Greek Orthodox Church of Agios Andreas, where they were welcomed by Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Patras and the church’s supervising priest, father Nikolaos Skiadaressis. The sailing ship will be open to the public daily until Thursday and tours will be given from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily. (source: ana-mpa)