From Fort San Pedro, Grace, Jandy, Cheska and I walked over to the Malacañang sa Sugbo berth in Pier 1 where the MV Logos Hope, the world’s largest floating library, was docked.  This world-traveling vessel, operated by the non-profit German Christian charitable organization GBA Ships e.V (Gute Bücher für Alle, English: Good Books for All) and captained by Tom Dyer, arrived in Cebu City last April 28 and was to remain there until May 29.

MV Logos Hope

Here, we checked out its library, occupying one air-conditioned deck of the ship.  It carries some 500,000 educational and Christian books of different titles, covering a range of subjects including fiction, economics, science, sports, hobbies, cookery, arts, medicine, languages, general reference and philosophy, for sale “at a fraction” of the books’ retail price.  Price ranged from PhP100-200 for the cheaper books, while the more expensive ones cost around PhP400-1,000.

The newly created Logos Hope Experience, situated on a deck that was installed into the original ferry’s car area, holds up to 800 visitors at any time, with capacity to host an additional 500 in the Hope Theatre and Logos Lounge. This publicly accessible deck offers visitors an introduction to the vessel and the organization. There’s also the “Journey of Life,” a visual presentation which is based on the story of the “Prodigal Son,” and the International Cafe.

The vessel’s 400 all volunteer (they live on board for two years) crew and staff, headed by Managing Director Seelan Govender, come from 45 countries, many of them humanitarian activists and people interested in social service who took part in the journey to sell books as well as to perform charity activities. Knowledge, Hope and Help is the aim of the vessel and wherever the ship goes, the needy and the destitute get sighs of happiness and hope. The revenue from the book fair is used for building orphanages, providing computer training, for awareness and educational programs for people with HIV, offering free health checkups and for donating to charity funds.

The fourth ship in the Logos line up, after the MV Logos (its wrecked hulk now sits on a rock shelf on the Chilean coast), the MV Logos II (retired in the fall of 2008) and the MV Doulos (sold in 2009 to a company in Singapore) and twice bigger than its predecessors, it is better than other ships operated by the organization when it comes to providing comfort, convenience and a quality cruise to visitors, guests as well as the crew of the ship. The MV Logos Hope was built in 1973 as the ferry MV Gustav Vasa for car ferry service between Malmö (Sweden) and Travemünde (Germany), a route she ran for 10 years.  In April 1983, she was sold to Smyril Line, a Faroese ferry company, and renamed MV Norröna, providing a ferry service to the Faroe Islands. Each summer, she sailed from Tórshavn, the Faroese capital, to Lerwick (Shetland Islands), Bergen (Norway), Hanstholm (Denmark) and Seyðisfjörður (Iceland).

In winter, she was often chartered to cover other operators’ overhaul schedules. When Smyril Line delivered a new Norröna in 2003, the old vessel became MV Norröna I and was put up for sale. In March 2004, after much deliberation, inspection and prayer, GBA purchased the vessel.

Completely refitted over a period of 5 years, it was launched into active service in February 2009 and has visited more than 150 countries in Northern Europe, the Caribbean, West Africa, the Mediterranean, the Arabian Peninsula, and most recently south Asia, docking in a port for approximately 2 weeks.  A total of 44 million book lovers have checked out its store. It last visited the Philippines in 2013.

MV Logos Hope: open from Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10 AM to 9:30PM, and Sundays, 1 to 9:30 PM.  Admission:  PhP20 per person. Children under 13 years old and senior citizens may enter for free.