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Panisara Skulpichairat (Poy) was one of the first guest educators onboard the 94th Peace Boat voyage, joining the ship from Yokohama to Thailand. A Sexuality Issues and Transgender Activist, Poy spoke onboard about sexuality and work to improve transgender rights in Thailand. In her lecture, ‘Transgender in Thailand', Poy began with an introduction to the basics of sex, gender and sexuality.

April 12, 2017 saw the start of Peace Boat's 94th Global Voyage for Peace. Departing from the port of Yokohama, the voyage began with an official departure ceremony. This gave an opportunity for participants to say goodbye to loved ones and mark the start of the circumnavigation around the globe.

Amory Lovins and Judy Hill Lovins live in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, US, 2200 metres above sea level. Affectionately referred to as "the banana farm" by the pair—after the tropical fruits grown in their greenhouse—their home is the embodiment of their shared values: to use energy efficiently, reduce one's carbon impact on the planet, and live in harmony with nature.

Just one hour south of Lima, Peru's capital, lies Villa El Salvador, a town created from scratch in the desert in 1971. Its first residents were migrants from indigenous communities who moved to Lima because of the great earthquake of 1970, and to flee armed conflict. They were prevented from settling in the city's residential areas and were instead offered land in its outskirts, then called ‘el arenal': the sandy place.

On January 25, 2017, a special guest came onboard Peace Boat while it was docked in the port of Montevideo, Uruguay. Known to many as "the world's most humble president" - due to his simple lifestyle and his donation of 90 per cent of his presidential salary to charity - Jose "Pepe" Mujica, the former President of Uruguay, made a special visit to the Ocean Dream to deliver a speech to Peace Boat participants.

As Peace Boat's 94th Voyage for Peace and Sustainability was docked in the city of La Guaira in Venezuela, an event was held onboard with the theme to realise a nuclear-free world. This formed part of the Global Voyage for a Nuclear Free World: Peace Boat Hibakusha Project taking place on the voyage where atomic bomb survivors are travelling around the world to give their testimonies of the bombings and appeal for nuclear weapons to be abolished.

Brazil boasts a rich social fabric - it is home to indigenous peoples, people of Portuguese descent, and those of African descent, among others - but poverty and inequality are perennial problems. While the legal minimum wage in Brazil is presently 937 reals per month, this is approximately four times less than the amount required for a decent standard of living, according to a recent survey produced by a Brazilian workers' union. While crossing the Atlantic Ocean, participants had the opportunity to learn in-depth about the history, culture and socioeconomic issues of Brazil - Peace Boat's first port of call on the Latin American continent.

In early January 2017, Peace Boat sailed around the south-eastern coast of Africa - calling in Madagascar, Mozambique, and South Africa - and afforded participants the opportunity to deepen their understanding of some of the pressing social and environmental challenges which presently face the continent. During this leg of the 93rd Global Voyage, two guest educators came onboard to focus the minds of participants on one issue which blighted the lives of millions of South Africans for decades: apartheid.

On December 9, 2016, a bright, crisp winter day, Peace Boat set sail from Yokohama on its 93rd Global Voyage. As the departure ceremony unfolded on the ship's top decks, cries of joy from participants lingered in the air, while technicoloured ribbons cascaded down to the port where hundreds of people gathered to send off their loved ones on this exciting adventure of a lifetime.

The 9th "Global Voyage for a Nuclear-Free World: Peace Boat Hibakusha Project" which took place onboard Peace Boat's 92nd Global Voyage returned to Yokohama after holding events to share the testimonies of nuclear bomb survivors in 13 countries and 17 cities. Five Hibakusha, two from Hiroshima and three from Nagasaki, took part in the project with the theme "Sharing the Testimonies and Message of the Survivors, Building the Momentum to Ban Nuclear Weapons". They were joined by one second generation Hibakusha and one "legacy messenger".

Peace Boat returned to New York for the first time in several years on October 20, 2016. To celebrate the visit of the 92nd Global Voyage, a large-scale event took place onboard the ship with the participation of hundreds of guests. The "Floating Festival for Sustainability" was organized with the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Close to 700 people gathered on the ship to celebrate partnership between the UN, the private sector and civil society to achieve these goals, the logo of which is painted on the ship's hull.

"I have been working with Peace Boat for 14 years" says Akira Kawasaki, Director of Peace Boat's Global University, a unique educational programme that takes place at sea during Peace Boat's Global Voyages. Through two weeks of onboard lectures and field programmes in ports, Peace Boat gives young students from around the world the opportunity to think deeply about the responsibility they bear as global citizens and how they can build solutions to various pressing global problems.