A Latin American training vessel meet; of the nine, four (plus) are Basque

This article was translated by John R. Bopp

The training ships from nine Latin American countries have participated in the third edition of the Velas Latinoamérica 2018, held every four years since 2010.

The event started back in March in Rio de Janeiro, and this time, the navies of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela took part, as well as from Spain and Portugal.  They traveled to 18 ports from Brazil to Mexico, crossing Cape Horn and the Panama Canal on a journey of over 22,000km (12,000mi).

The better part of the ships did reach the final destination, in Veracruz.  That’s where eight of these ships ended this amazing voyage.

And why are we mentioning it?  Because of the eight ships that reached the final port of Veracruz, of the nine Latin American ships that participated, four were built in the Bilbao shipyards.  Astilleros Celaya, a true legend in shipbuilding, was in charge of designing, constructing, and launching them.  We’ve brought this up before.

These three-masted sailboats which join these Latin American countries with ancient Basque naval tradition are:

• The Simón Bolivar (Venezuela)
• The Gloria (Colombia)
• The Guayas (Ecuador)
• The Cuauhtémoc (Mexico)

Also, as we’ve mentioned before, at the Cádiz shipyard Astilleros Echevarrieta y Larriñaga, founded by Basque Horacio Echevarrieta, the Chilean Esmeralda was built.

Every time a ship build by Celaya travels the world representing its nation, it’s also representing the Basques and their shipbuilding history.  For us, with our strong family ties to the shipyards in Bilbao, eye witnesses of the building of these four ships, this is, we must admit, a source of pride.

Televisa – 27/8/218 – México

Buques del mundo se reúnen en ‘Velas Latinoamérica 2018’

El puerto de Veracruz, uno de los más antiguos del continente, fundado en 1519 es digna sede de un encuentro histórico de escuelas militares navales. Hoy, pilares de la seguridad en la región.

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Last Updated on Dec 20, 2020 by About Basque Country