Opening of the Surakhany Tanker Museum takes place in Baku

Opening of the Surakhany Tanker Museum took place on March 1st.

Created for the first time in the world, the museum’s opening ceremony was attended by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva.

Along with developing the seafaring, a number of projects towards preserving the naval traditions, studying and eternalizing its history have been implemented in the country. Creation of the Surakhany Tanker Museum, which combines the past, present and future of the seafaring with old history in Azerbaijan is another essential step made in this sphere with the support of the head of the state. Selection of the Surakhany Tanker as a museum is no coincidence. This ship was one of the biggest and modern tankers of its time. To turn it into a museum, experiences of such countries as the Great Britain, Netherlands and Turkey were used. This rare project is the result of over 2000 local ship repairers’ labour. Visitors of the museum were met by the captain and head assistant, providing them with information about the crew and their duties. Cutting-edge technological solutions are applied in the halls of the museum. For example, the ship’s berthing may be performed independently using a game manipulator. Visitors become participants of the events occurring in a video demonstrated by a 360-degree screen.

Models of three most famous light houses are also demonstrated in the museum. Visitors will have a chance to become acquainted with the routes of ships sailing in the Caspian Sea, as well as their foreign communication and navigations on the navigation desk. Travelling back to the past is also possible here. Visitors who travel back to the middle of the last century would become familiar with the daily business life of the crew working in the machine section of the ship. One of the interesting expositions of the tanker-museum is a corner where samples of flora and fauna collected in oceans and seas are exhibited.

The tanker-museum also exhibits annals of heroism of Azerbaijani sailors during the Great Patriotic War, and the events of 20th January of 1990. The museum contains also an interactive book about the matchless merits of National Leader Heydar Aliyev to the development of the Caspian Seafaringof Azerbaijan, as well as large-scale projects implemented by President Ilham Aliyev in the field of seafaring.

Rich in interesting exhibits, the tanker-museum will be one of the places that tourists would want to visit in the post-pandemic time.

The head of the state and the first lady were also informed of the sculptural composition erected in memory of the Azerbaijani sailors.

It was noted that People’s artists Salhab Mammadov and Ali Abdullayev, and Honoured architect Elkhan Asadov were authors of the work of art. The sculptural composition is presented by a ship propeller breaking through the wave with a dynamic figure. This propeller has been created as the source of energy for sailors and an integral part of their lives, along with symbolizing the development of the Caspian Sea navigation.