Ricky Dhumbi, a mechanical engineer peruses a book as he sips hot coffee at his home library in Diani, Kwale county.

In one corner of the library sprawls two voluminous books, a giant World Atlas and a chemistry book. For Dhumbi, the two books are some of his favourite copies, as they serve as souvenirs of the historic arrival of MV Doulos, the last floating library to dock at the Port of Mombasa was in 2005.

“I bought these books at the floating book fair and so I have very fond memories of those days. It was such a fun being in that ship. The experience was awesome,” the engineer recalls.

Carol Kuyo an X (formerly Twitter) user, recalls great memories aboard the vessel.

“When Doulos came to Mombasa in 2005, it really was a great moment! We lined up waiting to see how gorgeous this ship was on the inside. We bought books, ice creams, a globe and just had so much excitement exploring,” recalls Kuyo.

Eighteen years down the line, an almost similar experience is returning to Mombasa with the anticipated coming of MV Logos Hope, the world’s largest floating book fair, which is scheduled to make a historic maiden call at the port of Mombasa on Wednesday.

Different titles

Dubbed ‘The floating library,’ the vessel will dock at the Mbaraki Wharf with a selection of over 5,000 different titles of books aboard. Sailing under Malta flag, MV Logos Hope has a length overall of 132.5 metres, width of 20.8, a draft of 5.2 metres and a carrying capacity of 12,519 Gross Tons. Onboard the vessel are 350 passengers of 65 different nationalities.

MV Logos Hope will open her doors to members of the public to select books of their choice from the wide array of genres including science, sports, hobbies, language, faith, cookery arts and medicine for purchase.

For 45 days members of the public will be treated to fun of touring the expansive vessel to explore other amenities like the international café, visitors deck, welcome area among others.

“Logos Hope sister to Doulos will be coming to Mombasa. After 18 whole years of us having no such experience, this will definitely be amazing,” Kuyo reckons recalling sweet memories she experienced 18 years ago aboard MV Doulos.

Children’s play

Constanza Figueroa, the Project Manager who is leading the Advance Preparation Team in Mombasa, explains that events will also take place on board the floating library including a children’s play, performances by crew members and an arts and culture fair.

“Visitors can learn about the history of the Logos Hope through a short video and interactive displays in the welcome area, and visit the cafe on board,” she said in an interview with People Daily.

According to Nicolas Civilotti, an Argentine national and a member of the advance preparation team, the ship left Abudhabi before sailing to Oman where it stayed for about two to three weeks before sailing to Seychelles and finally to Mombasa.

Maiden visit

The historic coming of MV Logos Hope only adds into the list of academic related vessels on a maiden visit to Kenya coming only eight months after arrivals of cruise liner- MV World Odyssey, a state of the art floating University, which docked at the Port of Mombasa on November last year on its maiden voyage to Africa.

The floating book fair was to come to Mombasa in 2015 but the voyage was suspended because of insecurity reasons. Last time a similar vessel came to Kenya was in 2005 when Mv Logos Hope sister ship Doulos docked at the Port City.

Walid Timimi, Marine Services Manager at Inchcape Shipping Service said the coming of the ship is a message that Kenya is increasingly becoming a destination of Choice in Africa and is likely to open up more opportunities for Kenyans.

“Students from Bandari Maritime academy will benefit from numerous opportunities that will come including recruitment and training,” explained Timimi.