Spirit of Malabo heads to United Nations

Brooklyn, New York – At the Gateway Marina, Victor Mooney announced that on September 18, the Spirit of Malabo will be presented to the United Nations as a global symbol for the fight against AIDS. 

The Goree Challenge Project has been undertaken by the South African Arts International. The Spirit of Malabo was commissioned by the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, with the personal support from HE Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Head of State. The naval architect was Roberto Barros and the boat-building done by Flavio Rodriguez in Brazil.

Over the course of ten years and three failed transatlantic rowing attempts, Heads of States, global health institutions, civil society, corporations, clergy, governments, individuals and maritime community have help usher this project along. 

On Mr. Mooney’s first landfall in Sint Maarten, emergency repairs were carried out by Custom Fit Marine. The Spirit of Malabo was damaged from a oceanic white tip shark and the transatlantic crossing made the boat vulnerable for a continued passage without repairs.

Spirit of Malabo would receive another restoration by RMK Merrill Stevens in Miami, Florida, after Mr. Mooney piracy attack in Haitian waters. Heading along the U.S. coastline, Spirit of Malabo, hit a submerged cypress stump and required assistance from the coast guard. Emergency repairs was performed by Everett Marine in Columbia, North Carolina. 

On November 28, 2015, the Spirit of Malabo reached New York’s Brooklyn Bridge, albeit in twenty-one months.

For more, visit www.goreechallenge.com.