Hundreds of people show up at the cruise ship docks during the nine-hour stopover of the Navy training ship
Just as it appeared at the mouth of the port minutes before ten o’clock in the morning, the Navy training ship ‘Juan Sebastián Elcano’ said goodbye to Cartagena amid honks, cheers and applause from the many citizens who around seven in the afternoon They crowded, despite the rain and the wind, at the lighthouses of La Curra and Navidad and at the Quay of Alfonso XII. And just like in the morning, in the afternoon he left accompanied by a score of small civil, military and port ships, which escorted him until he began to unfurl his twenty sails and his figure disappeared on the horizon.
Behind him he left nine hours of expectation and a trace of the feat of the distinguished sailor in the form of a globe of the world made of iron and steel. In it, the Cartagena sculptor Fernando Sáenz de Elorrieta, in homage to the expeditionary who completed the first circumnavigation of the world, captured the journey made between 1519-1522. It is located in the now Juan Sebastián Elcano Cruise Terminal, as the pier where the large ocean liners dock has been called since yesterday. Neither the wind, nor the cold, nor even the threat of rain intimidated the public.
The nomination ceremony, attended by a thousand guests, also served as a farewell to the ship, whose crew was made up of 197 sailors and 73 midshipmen, the students and future officers of the Navy. The first civil authorities were also present, such as the mayor, Noelia Arroyo, the president of the Cartagena Port Authority, Yolanda Muñoz, and the Minister of the Presidency, Tourism, Culture and Sports, Marcos Ortuño.
“Centuries of Twinning”
It was chaired by the Admiral of Maritime Action, Vice Admiral Juan Luis Sobrino Pérez-Crespo, who in his speech recalled the deeds of the Spanish sailor around the world and “the centuries of twinning of the Navy with Cartagena, of common desires and advances”, which “today [por ayer para el lector] they are much more reinforced by this act.”
Arroyo also intervened and as thanks for the ship’s visit, he handed over the keys to the city to the ship’s captain, Manuel García Ruiz, from Cartagena, who is in command of the school ship. “Starting today, our visitors arriving by sea will enter the city through the dock that honors the memory of one of the most important Spaniards in world history. Juan Sebastián Elcano will be the first and last name they have contact with during their visit to Cartagena », he said.
After that, the plaque that gives the name to the cruise terminal was discovered, which will later be permanently in the building of the new terminal that the Port Authority will build in the coming months. It reads: «Juan Sebastián Elcano cruise terminal. In memory and tribute to the great deed of the Spanish sailor who made the first circumnavigation of the world.
During the ceremony, the Marine Infantry Band performed several songs with a tenor, including Gora Elkano, which drew applause from the public. The same happened with the final parade of the mixed company of the Navy, led by the Spanish flag. The event was attended by Rafael Conesa as a guest, who was recording almost the entire ceremony with his mobile. “I really like these kinds of events and when I found out I could come I rushed to get a ticket,” he said. Very close to her he was María del Mar del Amor with her father. “I wouldn’t have missed it, I come from a family of sailors,” she noted.
Since the Juan Sebastián Elcano arrived in Cartagena, the Muelle de Alfonso XII has gathered many people throughout the morning to enjoy the moment and immortalize it with their cameras. Many wanted to enter the cruise ship dock to see the arrival of the ship, but access was restricted for security reasons.
round the world cruise
“I would have liked to have gone up and seen the boat, which, as far as I know, will soon be a hundred years old,” said Juan García, a resident of La Concepción who came with his wife. Due to her short stay in the city, no visits were arranged, but in Barcelona, the last port where she made a stopover before arriving in Cartagena. There 12,000 people got on board.
The stop that will be made in Cartagena is part of the XCIV Training Cruise, which began on February 12 from the port of Cádiz. After Piraeus, in Athens, Civitavecchia, in Italy, and Barcelona, he arrived at the port city, to then follow his route map. It is his 12th round-the-world trip and during the journey he will stop at 12 ports in eight different countries, traveling some 14,000 nautical miles.
“I am excited to bring the ship to my hometown”
The commander of the training ship of the Navy ‘Juan Sebastián Elcano’, Manuel García Ruiz, from Cartagena, was yesterday “very excited” to visit “my hometown” and “bring” the ship to the land that saw him born in 1970. He has been at his command since July of last year. “Today we have put the name of the illustrious Spanish sailor in the right place,” he said. On the ship’s return to the port city, after twenty years since its last visit, he explained that a ship with these characteristics “is designed to navigate through hot climates and take advantage of the Atlantic trade winds, so doing it through the Mediterranean is in very exceptional circumstances. This scale was not planned. It was thanks to the admiral and the mayor”.
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