STS ''Kaisei'' (海星), meaning ''“Sea Star”'' in the

Japanese language is the principal language of the Japonic languages, Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people. It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language, and within the Japanese dia ...

, is a

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

-hulled

brigantine A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Ol ...

naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners. {{Commons category, Architecture by occupation Design occupations Occupations Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's rol ...

Ryszard Langer. It was built as a

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

Elbląg Elbląg (; ; ) is a city in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, located in the eastern edge of the Żuławy region with 127,390 inhabitants, as of December 2021. It is the capital of Elbląg County. Elbląg is one of the ol ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

in 1987. After re-rigging it is now a two-masted vessel, square rigged on the foremast, with fore-and-aft sails on the mainmast.

History

Originally commissioned by the Polish Yachting Association as the ''Zew'', she was acquired by the Sail Training Association of Japan (STAJ) and delivered to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

via the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

in 1993 following a 16-month maiden voyage under the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

flag in which she saw winds off the coast of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and participated in the American Tall Ship Celebration in 1992. Kaisei Coming To Port

Trips

Under the Japanese flag, she visited 15 countries and traveled extensively throughout the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

in her mission to promote the global community and bring countries and cultures together through the international language of the sea. She has covered roughly 40,000 nautical miles (around 80,000 km). In 1992 she sailed with the Columbus fleet, flying the UN flag. Kaisei's maiden voyage lasted 16 months throughout Europe, East Coast US, Caribbean, Panama Canal, West Coast US and Pacific Islands covering 57,000 km. During this time period, the vessel flew the United Nations flag. Under Japanese flag she traveled throughout the Pacific and Asia and carried over 10,000 trainees during the 14-year period.

Ocean Voyages Institute

Ocean Voyages Institute, a California 501(c) 3 organization, currently operates the vessel. She serves as the figurehead and expedition ship of "

Project Kaisei Project Kaisei (from 海星, ''kaisei'', "ocean planet" in Japanese) is a scientific and commercial mission to study and clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a large body of floating plastic and marine debris trapped in the Pacific Ocean ...

," which is an international program dedicated to implementing solutions to the problem of

marine debris Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human-created solid material that has deliberately or accidentally been released in seas or the ocean. Floating oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the center of gyres and on coastlines, freque ...

. In August 2009, ''Kaisei'' embarked from San Francisco on a month-long voyage for the Ocean Voyages Institute as part of "Project Kaisei". This voyage was to study the

Great Pacific Garbage Patch The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (also Pacific trash vortex and North Pacific Garbage Patch) is a garbage patch, a gyre of marine debris particles, in the central North Pacific Ocean. It is located roughly from 135°W to 155°W and 35°N ...

. She returned again in 2010 to the North Pacific Gyre and also took part in a variety of educational and awareness events. On May 25, 2025, she sank at her dock at the Alameda Harbor in Alameda, California. The cause is under investigation.

References

External links

Ocean VoyagesOcean Voyages InstituteSail Training Association of Japan

The American Sail Training Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaisei (Ship) Training ships Tall ships of Japan Tall ships of Poland Tall ships of the United States Sail training ships Brigantines 1987 ships Ships built in Gdańsk