Labuan, stopover for 55 international sailors from six countries
LABUAN: Being equipped with marina and yachts facilities, Labuan was chosen to be the stopover for 55 international sailors from six countries on July 16-19.
The sailing of 25 sailboats from Australia, New Zealand, France , Scotland, the United Kingdom, the United States and and the Netherlands was in conjunction with the Sail Malaysia Passage to East 2018 Yacht Rally, organized by SM Yatching Sdn Bhd and with the cooperation from Tourism Malaysia and local tourism body.
The event kicked off officially in Puteri Harbour Marina in Nusajaya, Johor on April 22 and scheduled to arrive the in Tawau, east coast of Sabah, on August 23-24 to help promote Malaysian tourism products and iconic spots to the entire world by sea.
Labuan Corporation Tourism, Culture and Arts director Mahathir Abdul Hamid said the stopover would also help Labuan to be on the tourism international map.
“Throughout the three-day stopover here, they visited a number of iconic spots on the island including the taste of local seafood delicacies,” he said to Bernama yesterday.
All the sailors were initially sailing from Phuket Cruisers Party, Thailand on Feb 1 and reached Rebak Island, Langkawi on April 3-4, and Pangkor on April 7-9 before reaching the official start rally in Puteri Harbour Marina 11 days after.
Before reaching Sarawak on June 23, all of them made stopovers in Anambas Island and Natuna Island in Indonesia.
They arrived Brunei on July 9-13 before reaching Labuan five days later.
Organising representative Sazli Kamal Basha said the program was able to promote Malaysia as a premier cruise destination (destinasi pelayaran) to attract foreign sailor from all over the world.
“The stopover was the third after we had this event many years ago, as we believe Labuan has a lot to offer to sailors.”