Soldat (Romania)

Soldat (soldier) is the lowest rank in the Romanian Land Forces. It is the equivalent of jandarm (English: gendarme) in the Romanian Gendarmerie.

In day-to-day usage, the term soldat denotes every man or woman enrolled in the Romanian Armed Forces, irrespective of their actual rank or branch in which they activate.

Soldat (rank)

Soldat (short: S) may refer to the lowest rank of enlisted men in the land-based armed forces of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It is usually grouped as OR-1 within the NATO ranking system, excluding the Swiss armed services which is not part of NATO.

Germany

The German term Soldat (equivalent to Soldier in English) has its roots as far back as the 16th-century, where it was a common designation for a paid or remunerated ordinary-rank member of a military infantry, especially one who was not an officer. In the German language Sold implies "pay", and as such the term Soldat designated a person in pay (being paid) for providing armed service.

In the Federal armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr) it can be the collective term to any person in uniform, e.g. Officers (de: Offiziere), Non-Commissioned Officers (de: Unteroffiziere), and enlisted men (de: Mannschaften).

In the Bundeswehr it is used to describe conscripts (de: Wehrpflichtiger), short/long term serving volunteers (de: Zeitsoldat, or Soldat auf Zeit), and career or regular servicemen (de: Berufssoldat).

Soldat (horse)

Soldat is a dark bay or brown colt by the sire War Front out of a Coronado’s Quest mare, Le Relais., and one of the contenders for the 2011 Kentucky Derby.

Racing career

Soldat, meaning “soldier” in French, moved to the forefront of the Kentucky Derby scene after his dominating two-length victory in the Fountain of Youth Stakes G2 on Feb 26, 2011. Before the Fountain of Youth, Soldat had been known for his ability on turf courses and wet tracks, but had never run on a dry dirt track like the one typically run at the Kentucky Derby. He completed the 1 1/8 mile race in a solid time of 1:50 1/5 and defeated two other highly regarded Derby prospects, Gourmet Dinner and To Honor and Serve. Soldat began his three-year-old season with a 10 3/4 length win in an allowance win at Gulfstream Park. The race was originally scheduled to run over the turf, but due to heavy rain it was moved to run over a sloppy dirt track.

Soldat completed a successful juvenile campaign culminating with a solid second in the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile Turf Stakes. He also won the With Anticipation Stakes over the Saratoga turf course and placed second in the Pilgrim Stakes over a yielding Belmont turf course. He started his career with back to back second place finishes in New York going very short, 5, and 5 ½ furlongs.

Imo (state)

Imo is one of the 36 states of Nigeria and lies in the South East of Nigeria with Owerri as its capital and largest city. Located in the south-eastern region of Nigeria, it occupies the area between the lower River Niger and the upper and middle Imo River.

Location

Imo State is bordered by Abia State on the East, River Niger and Delta State to the West, Anambra State on the North and Rivers State to the South. The State lies within latitudes 4°45'N and 7°15'N, and longitude 6°50'E and 7°25'E with an area of around 5,100 sq km. The main cities in Imo State are Owerri, Orlu and Okigwe.

Rivers and Lakes

The Orashi River has its source in Imo State. Imo River, being the major river in the State, drains through Abia State, where it is joined by Aba River from the North, and Akwa Ibom State into the Atlantic Ocean. There are Njaba River, Oguta Lake, Utu River and Awbana River in the State.Otamiri River and its 9.2 km length tributary, Nworie River flow in the State.

There are other rivers and creeks in the state including Onas Creek in Ohaji/Egbema , Okitankwo River in Umudi, and Ohia and Efuru Rivers in Okigwe.

Saga Ruby

MS Saga Ruby is a cruise ship that was owned and operated by Saga Cruises. She was built as the combined ocean liner/cruise ship Vistafjord in 1973 by Swan Hunter Shipbuilders in the United Kingdom for the Norwegian America Line. In 1983 she was sold to Cunard Line, retaining her original name until 1999 when she was renamed Caronia. In 2004 she was sold to Saga and sailed as Saga Ruby until sold in 2014 for use as a floating hotel and renamed Oasia.

Concept and construction

The Vistafjord was ordered by Norwegian America Line (NAL) from Swan Hunter Shipbuilders, Newcastle, United Kingdom. She was based on the company's 1965-built MS Sagafjord, but with an enlarged hull, additional superstructure deck and improved interior layout. However, as the cost of building the Sagafjord had put her builders, Forges et Chantiers de la Mediterranee, out of business, the Vistafjord had to be built at a different shipyard. She was launched on 15 May 1972 and delivered to the Norwegian America Line exactly a year later on 15 May 1973. She is the last cruise ship to have been built in the United Kingdom.

MV Lucky Star (1976)

The MV Larks is a ferry previously operated by TransEuropa Ferries between 1999 and April 2013 as MV Larkspur. After TEF went bankrupt in April 2013 the ship has remained laid up in Oostende in Belgium. She was sold in December 2013 to an unknown buyer and then sold again to Oilchart, a local bunkering company, for more than E400K. Her name was then shortened to Larks. She briefly served with the Greek ferry operator Egnatia Seaways but after financial issue from within Egnatia she was laid up and was renamed Lucky Star on the 01/09/2014 and was registered to Velenio Shipping Co Ltd, Athens, Greece at the same time of her renaming.

History

Launched as the Gedser she served between Gedser (Denmark) and Travemunde (Germany) from 1976 until 1986 when she was acquired by Sally Line and she was renamed the Viking 2 where she entered service for Sally Line between Ramsgate (UK) and Dunkerque (France), in 1988 she was renamed the Sally Sky and then in 1997 the Eurotraveller where she entered service for Sally Direct.