The Kaliningrad Association of Sea Captains includes 600 people who have either served in the navy or continue to work on various vessels. The Society was founded in 1989.

    The Kaliningrad Club of Captains has been around for over 30 years. The Council is located at the following address: ul. Petra Velikogo Embankment, Building No. 1. You can contact members of the Society by email at tflotk@gmail.com. Previously, the Club was located in the Palace of Culture of Fishermen, now it is the premises of the Musical Theater. 

    The main goal of the Society is to promote the maritime profession among young people and patriotic education. They show the prestige of the profession of a captain and specialists of the fleet industry in general. There are many veterans in the Kaliningrad regional public organization who went on their first sea expeditions. Young people can learn a lot from them in a professional sense. Newly-minted personnel can take a worthy place, and they will be offered membership in the Society. The Council is actively involved in social activities, promoting the development of the maritime fleet and solving current problems in this area. 

    Together with government agencies, work is being done on the social protection of sailors, fishermen, and veterans of the maritime fleet. Methodological assistance is provided to maritime educational institutions. Members of the society participate in conferences, seminars, and advocate for the development of the fishing industry in the region. 

    About the President of the Kaliningrad Regional Public Organization

The President of the Kaliningrad Captains' Club is Valery Mezentsev. He is also a long-distance captain and, concurrently, an honorary worker of the fishery of Russia and the Kaliningrad region. Valery Vladimirovich spent his childhood in stories about sea voyages. He saw how his relatives were proud of their profession. Stories about the shores of Africa and Gibraltar are preserved in his memory. 

    So, over time, the decision came to become a navigator. Now the club provides assistance to sailors.

    Valery Vladimirovich completed his internship in the Baltic Sea, on the ship RR-1291 "Artek". He remembers how they ate sprats and made preserves from the fish, and lived in the bow compartment. Sea service is hard. You had to get up before dawn and process the fish without rest. The future president of the Society's board spent the first money he received on the voyage on buying a vacuum cleaner for his mother. 

    The next stage in Vasily Mezentsev's career was being sent to the KBTF. He became a sailor on the BMRT "Kristall", which was heading to Angola. The voyage is remembered as one of the hardest. The cabins were unbearably hot +50, there were no air conditioners, they even slept on the deck. In 1989, young Vasily received a diploma from KVIMU and became a captain. His favorite steamship is "Alexander Tyurin". He has been working in the organization since 2010.

The sea is created by brave captains...

    The club's leaders in the position of captains: Grishunov, Chagin, Mukhin (he was the first president of the Society). Mukhin always tried to help sailors, sought to increase the pensions of fishermen. Unfortunately, he died in 2017, and his place in the club was taken by Mezentsev. One of the captains, Yuri S., wrote a book "In Memory of the Dead Fishermen". It was not without the help of the FSB archives. His other book, "Requiem for the Fishing Vessels of the Kaliningrad Region", became a marine teaching aid. The association also published two books of memoirs: "Everyday Fishing. In Jest and Seriously" and "On the Crest of a Wave". 

    The club publishes various books to preserve information about the fishing bases of the Kaliningrad Region. The captains' association also helped to update and open a memorial to those killed on the "Tucan". It is important that fellow countrymen remember those who lost their lives at sea and have no grave on earth.

Activities of the Kaliningrad Captains Club

The society's council supports veterans. The lists include 1,500 fishermen with more than 25 years of service at sea. They are not forgotten on their birthdays, and receive financial assistance. On Thursdays, or rather every Thursday of the month, the association holds meetings, and the chosen location is the Museum of the World Ocean. On these days, veterans can remember the past, talk to comrades, and award captains with badges. 

    The captain's badge was an appendix to the diploma and served as the highest distinction. When the USSR ceased to exist, it disappeared. Thanks to the efforts of the association, it was possible to revive the valor of the profession, and the authorities returned the badge. It looks the same as before, with an anchor and a chain. Since 2015, 75 badges of distinction adorn the chests of captains. 

    The history of the fishing industry of the region, as the society's council says, began with a herring expedition to the shores of Iceland. In 1949, there were not even echo sounders, but magnetic compasses. Simple nets were used as fishing gear. The result of this expedition was a success - herring appeared in Kaliningrad. 

    In 1950, the UEL flotilla consisted of 14 seiners and a similar number of medium-sized fishing trawlers (SRT). By 1959, the industrial fleet acquired 165 SRT units, 15 floating bases, tankers and tugs. In 1963, UEL turned into the "Kaliningrad Base of the Ocean Fishing Fleet" with various SRT, SRTR, SRTMK, SRTM vessels. Today, there is practically no fishing fleet. There are a small number of fishing schooners. 

    Membership of the society, as well as exit from it, is voluntary. In addition to captains, the composition includes veterans, artists who have reached 18 years of age. The activities of sea captains received a worthy assessment in the eyes of local authorities.