Fall of 2003 Cruise Around The World

The First Cruise Around The World

In the Fall of 2003, the Queen Iya had boarded the battleship Kingsborg, accompanied by a fossil-fueled battleship, 1 aircraft carrier, 1 land attack helicopter carrier, 2-5 cruisers, 10 destroyers, and 5-10 frigates.

The Queen’s escort had approached the shores of Portugal and Spain, entered the Mediterranean, approached the shores of Sicily, Greece, Crete and stood offshore from Tel Aviv, Israel, where Queen Iya had taken a ride in a state convoy by the National embassy staff, National Marine battalions, the Royal Guard Forces, and Israeli security forces. She had visited Jerusalem’s Western Wall, had spoken with leading religious authorities, and upon returning to Tel Aviv, had visited with leading representatives of the Diamond Exchange to discuss Royal diamonds and gems she had brought along, as well as diamonds and gems from local collections. The land visit lasted from morning to early evening.

From Israel her ship had set course for the Suez Canal, which she transited, sailed by the island of Sokotra, sailed by the coast of Arabia, entered the Persian Gulf, approaching the coast of Iraq, where the both battleships carried out gunnery training by firing barrages of live rounds at the designated locations on the Iraqi shore. The live fire drew some world criticism. After a daylight visit off Iraqi shores, she had set course to exit the Persian Gulf, had sailed to the shores of India, approached the shores of Bombay, and having received the Indian Navy’s official salute, sailed along the shore south and around Sri Lanka, to Malacca Straits, sailed past Singapore, set course for the Sorong National Military installations in Indonesia, sailing past and into the Pacific Ocean, passing Tahiti, the Easter Island, through the Magellan Straits passing iceberg zone into the Atlantic Ocean, sailing within the sight of Paraguay-Brazil coasts, and directly north homeward to dock at the Yngeborg Fortress port.