Did You Know? There’s A Mongolian Navy With Seven Marines
Only one guy knows how to swim.
In the beginning, it was just for protecting oil tankers, but later on, the Mongolians developed a defensive navy of seven marines, for real.
As the Cold War came to an end, the navy slowly transitioned into a cargo service. As they later turned into private business, they don’t even transport goods anymore.
Being one of the rarest landlocked navies, they took advantage of developing some tourism instead. You could go on the ship and sail around Lake Khövsgöl to get a taste sailing amongst a “desert.”
It is by far the smallest landlocked navy in the world. The entire “fleet” consists of three ships, two cannons, and seven marines. This is why people also call them — the Mongolian Seven Warlords.
The almighty Sukhbaatar III is revealed down below, docking safely right at Lake Khövsgöl. The name of the ship derives from Mongolian independence pioneer Sukhbaatar himself.
This might be the last place on your bucket list right after visiting North Korea for travel fanatics. An entire trip from bottom to tip by sailing would take only eight hours to get across. The only alternative is to go around by riding a horse, taking four days, as there are no accessible roads for driving.
It’s a small but vital lifeline to the people and goods that need to get across the lake.
According to a U.S. interview in 2010, the Sukhbaatar III struggled to keep ends meet after privatization. Besides ferrying tourists, the navy crew would also hustle farming for extra cash. However, until this day, the Seven Warlords are still in business and making things work!
