The Spanish Navy training ship ‘Juan Sebastián de Elcano’ set sail last Sunday from Cádiz to start her 90th midshipmen training cruise. The farewell ceremony was presided over by the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral General Teodoro López Calderón, accompanied by other civilian and military authorities.
The commanding officer of the ‘Juan Sebastián de Elcano’ is Captain Ignacio Paz and her crew consists of 21 officers, 21 NCOs, 127 leading seamen and ratings, and 2 civilians.
The purpose of this Training Cruise is to contribute to the nautical, military, social and human instruction of the new 61 midshipmen from the 420th Spanish Navy graduation class, the 150th Marine Corps graduation class. The ship also actively supports the State foreign policy visiting different ports during her training cruise.
During the next six months, the ship will participate in the ‘Velas Latinoamérica 2018’ tall-ships race and will visit the following national and international ports: Funchal, Las Palmas (Canary Islands), Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Ushuaia, Punta Arenas, Valparaiso, El Callao and Charleston (U.S.A) with a scheduled arrival at Cadiz on August 11th.
In the transit from Ushuaia to Punta Arenas the ‘Juan Sebastián de Elcano’ will try -weather permitting- the passage around the southernmost Cape Horn for the first time.