It’s a boon for tourism and education sectors as the world’s most extensive floating library with 5000 different titles of books and 350 crew from 70 nationalities docked in Mombasa for 45 days.
MV Logos Hope sailing under Malta flag, has an overall length of 132.5 meters, a width of 20.8, a draft of 5.2 meters and a carrying capacity of 12,519 gross tons made her maiden voyage to Mombasa 18 years after her sister ship Duolos visited.
It docked at the Mbaraki wharf a few minutes before 9’00 am in the morning having sailed from Seychelles.
It will open her doors to members of the public to select books of their choice from the wide array of genres including science, sports, hobbies, language, faith, cookery arts, and medicine for purchase.
The public will be treated to the fun of touring the expansive marine vessel to explore other amenities like the international café, visitor’s deck, and welcome area among others.
The ship operated by GBA (Good Books for All) goal is to share knowledge, help, and hope in every port it visits. It has so far called on over 150 countries and territories.
Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Principal Corporate Communication Officer Hajj Masemo said the tourism season has begun in earnest with the arrival of MV Logos Hope.
“Today is a very good day for us as KPA, we have started our tourism season. The tourism season usually starts in September and ends in March. This time we have started earlier, and we are happy it is a good sign. This vessel MV Logos Hope is a moving library and it is actually the biggest moving library in the world today. She is carrying 5000 different types of books. She is going to be here for 45 days. The vessel is coming from Seychelles,” said Masemo.
He added that bibliophiles would have an opportunity to buy any book that they like in the vessel and business will thrive in Mombasa.
“We believe there will be a lot of business going on between the city residents and the vessel. More cruise vessels are coming, it’s a renaissance of crew business after the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said urging people to throng the vessel.
CECM for Education Mbwarali Kame said they expected beneficiaries of the County mentorship programme to visit the library starting with schools from Mvita, Likoni, Nyali, and Kisauni Sub-Counties.
“Mombasa County will enter into an agreement with the management of the vessel to purchase books that will be distributed to schools,” said CEC Kame.
On his part, CECM for Trade and Tourism Mohamed Osman said they were well prepared to handle the vessel crew as they visit tourist attractions sites in Mombasa.
The coming of the vessel, Osman said, is one of the stratagems to attract tourists and plans are underway for SMEs to pitch tents near the vessel to sell their products in order to uplift them economically.
“We have negotiated with the Ministry of Blue Economy for the revival of tourism. More cruise ships should dock in Mombasa,” disclosed Osman.
A member of the vessel advance preparation team Constanza Figueroa said the ship has already visited 150 different countries in the world. She thanked different agencies for their cooperation in receiving the ship in the country.
“This is teamwork. A lot of people were involved to make this possible. We are really excited to welcome you onboard from the 24th of August to the 3rd of October please don’t miss the chance to visit the largest floating book fair in the world,” said Figueroa.
By Sadik Hassan
