On Wednesday, 1 September, the ship Briggen Tre Kronor departed Stockholm for the first three-day-leg of the journey, crossing the Baltic sea to Klapeida in Lithuania. The passenger list included three mentors and their students from SEB’s mentoring program and Fredrik Decker, an SEB client. (More clients and young people will join the crew in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.)
“It feels great to be able to join SEB on the journey to Klapeida. I’ve sailed all my life but never on a ship like this. It’s going to be exciting to learn more about how they sailed in the old days.
“I also believe that SEB’s mentor program is brilliant since I like the idea of companies and people giving something back to society. I would like to see more of that in Sweden.”
Above all, SEB wants to draw attention to its involvement in environmental issues concerning the Baltic sea as well as its work with the youth of today through its mentoring program.
“We’re trying to integrate our sponsorships into everything we do, even in the field of sustainability,” says Anna Löfgren, head of the mentoring initiative at SEB. “Taking our mentors and young participants on a trip like this gives us priceless knowledge and understanding of young people today. In addition, a sea voyage of this kind will give those who join us on this trip memories for life.”
SEB's mentoring involvement includes young people in Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Besides being part of the crew and helping out with the sailing, the participants will be given the opportunity to learn sailing theory and seamanship, navigation and, of course, more about SEB's sustainability efforts.
During the trip, the crew will also collect water samples, both from the open sea and from the ports they visit, to measure the temperature, oxygen level and salinity of the water. On certain stretches of the journey, the ship’s environmental manager, marine biologist Olof Cerne, will talk about the marine environment and what impact people are having on the marine environment.
“The quality of the Baltic Sea water will be an important component in our work with environmental issues since the quality of the water is an important issue for all of our markets in the Baltic region,” says Jonas Solehav, environmental manager at SEB.
The initiative includes sailing and open houses activities at the ports of Klaipeda, Liepaja, Riga, Tallinn and Pärnu, providing an opportunity to entertain corporate customers and other target groups, as well as involving SEB staff and students from local mentoring programs.
“During our 20 days at sea, hundreds of customers will have the opportunity to see the ship, get acquainted with SEB and learn more about our investments in our future," says Josefin Sollander, project manager for the initiative.