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Bar, Montenegro :: Honourable Mayor of the Municipality of Bar Dušan Raičević peruses atlas in bookfair alongside Logos Hope Managing Director Edward David (Malaysia).

The city between two magical shores

Known as ‘the city between two magical shores’, the coastal town of Bar in Montenegro is surrounded by majestic mountains and stunning landscapes. Despite the beauty of the port, it is the people who made the greatest impression on Captain Dirk Colenbrander, which he highlighted during the official opening ceremony welcoming Logos Hope to Bar. “I have sailed for 30 years all around the world and this is my first visit to Montenegro. What struck me was the friendliness [of the people] and the big smiles.” He likened this to the community on board Logos Hope and issued a challenge to those in attendance to ask a crewmember why they do what they do. “I hope you will discover what makes this ship different from others, and it’s the people that make the difference on this ship.”

The guest of honour, Honourable Mayor of the Municipality of Bar Dušan Raičević, further emphasised the similarities between the town of Bar and Logos Hope, referencing the multicultural communities in both. He was elated to welcome Logos Hope to Bar saying, “It is an honour to be your hosts for the first time.” Then, in clear support of Logos Hope’s mission to share knowledge, help and hope, he continued, “We are all keen to receive new knowledge. We really want to know each other better. We want to help each other and finally to accomplish the mission of ours, ‘hope’, all together.” The port agent, Mihailo Vukic, echoed this saying, “We have had almost 250 ships this year in Montenegro, but for us Logos Hope is a special one. I really want to invite everyone from Montenegro to come and visit these people here.”

Logos Hope Managing Director Edward David and Captain Dirk were presented with many gifts. Among them, a bottle of olive oil, known as the ‘gold of Bar’, from the mayor. He explained that it is olive oil from one of the world’s oldest olive trees planted in the Old Town of Bar. Following the opening ceremony, Mayor Raičević was given a tour of the bookfair, during which he was particularly taken by one of the atlases. He chose to gift one of these atlases, as well as many other educational books, to each of the ten primary schools in the municipality, already a symbol of the strong partnership between Bar and Logos Hope in sharing knowledge, help and hope.