Peace Boat” sails into the port of Piraeus on Sunday

The “Peace Boat,” which embarked on its 84th global voyage on July 9 promoting a world free of nuclear weapons, will sail into the port of Piraeus on Sunday, September 7, coming from Malta, it was announced on Thursday. A reception ceremony will take place at 10:00 hours on Sunday morning.

Before returning to Yokohama, Japan on October 21, where the voyage was launched, the “Peace Boat” and its 1,400 passengers from different countries will visit Istanbul, as well as, Bulgarian, Romanian and Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea.

Among its passengers are people from the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and also Japanese activists on an international campaign in defence of article 9 of the Japanese Constitution providing for the country’s demilitarization.

An eight-member group of young Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots will board the boat to travel from Piraeus to Istanbul. While en route they will brief the rest of its passengers on the Cyprus issue and the struggle for peace on the island.

Observatory of International Organisations and Globalisation president Panos Trigazis and members of the “Year of Cyprus 2014” Initiative will also travel to Istanbul.

The “Peace Boat” initiative is a non governmental organisation based in Japan that was established by survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki with the purpose of promoting peace, human rights and environmental protection.

Until the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, the “Peace Boat” actions focused on the ban of nuclear weapons with speeches delivered by atomic bomb survivors, but since Fukushima it campaigns against the nuclear threat in general (including nuclear plants and depleted uranium weapons).

For the first time this year there are no atomic bomb survivors among the boat’s passengers because the few who are still alive are very old and their place has been taken by their descendants.

source:AMNA