Ship ‘Unión’, a “traveling embassy” of Peru where its sailors are “forged”

He vessel school ‘Union’, a “traveling embassy” from Peru that is traveling around the world and in which “forge” professionally sailors, arrived today at Rome with a crew of more than 200 people, including 47 women.

On the ship, “the biggest and fastest of Latin America”, According to its commander, José Arce, 96 third-year cadets from the Peruvian naval school are being trained and now, after six months aboard this 115.7-meter-long sailboat, they will give way to a new batch that will depart from Rome to continue the journey.

The formation “theoretical and practical” It is the main activity that the cadets carry out on board, with classes in classrooms and activities typical of a sailor, Commander Arce explained EFE.

The life of the cadets aboard the training ship begins early: at 5:45 the alarms sound and everyone quickly heads to the deck to perform some “calisthenics exercises” before climbing to the highest of the three masts.

These exercises, the soldier highlights, serve to “forge” the character of the sailors when it comes to getting used to the usual tasks on board this ship powered by 34 sails.

The “deck practices” are complemented with some classes “in accordance with educational standards” Peruvians, a training that gives them the category of “professionals” of the Peruvian Navy, Arce assured.

Among the 255 sailors traveling aboard the ship, there are 47 women, whom Commander Arce assures “they perform fully”with different responsibilities.

This was confirmed by cadet Gabriela Escudero, who told EFE that they do “the same activities as men.”

During the afternoon, they carry out sports and other cultural activities, as will happen in the next few days in Rome, which they will visit in their gala uniforms, as well as the participation of a delegation of the crew in the general audience that Pope Francis will celebrate this Wednesday in the Paul VI classroom.

The circumnavigation that this ship is carrying out, with stops in ports such as Busan (South Korea) or Shanghai (China), also has the added purpose of disseminating Peruvian culture, history and gastronomy.

On board, in a room called the ‘House of Peru’, Visitors can learn about everything from the varieties of coffee that are grown in the different territories of the country, to fruits and vegetables, to beers and other native alcoholic beverages.

The visitors, most of them people of Peruvian origin, are received by two cadets dressed in typical Peruvian costumes. ‘inca tupac yupanqui’ and from Cuzco.

This visit to Italy, which will end next week with a three-day stay in the port of La Spezia (north), is framed in the 150th anniversary of bilateral relations between both countries.

The training ship ‘Union‘ will visit Spain next year, with a first stop in Málaga (south), where it will dock from January 21 to 25, and then travel to Cádiz (south), from January 31 to February 2.