World’s largest square-rigged sailing vessel returns to Harwich

  • Anglia

  • Video report by Hannah Pettifer

Starting a cruise ship company in the midst of Covid-19 might have been seen as a risky venture - anything but plain sailing, you might think.

Tradewind Voyages, which is based in Hadleigh in Suffolk, saw it as an opportunity and is now preparing for the start of its winter cruise season. 

Its vessel - the world's largest square-rigged sailing vessel the Golden Horizon - docked for the first time in Harwich this weekend.

It's the first cruise vessel call at Hutchison Ports Harwich International since 2019 and the start of the Covid crisis.

Tradewind Voyages started the business in 2020, in the worst of circumstances, the travel industry having been decimated by covid.

The ship boasts three swimming pools, 140 rooms all with sea views, and a spectacular dining hall.

It was only a pit stop in Harwich for the Golden Horizon. She is due to sail back to her base in Croatia where she will be prepared for her first major cruise season this winter in the Caribbean.