Mexican ship on goodwill visit docks in Mumbai, 15 years after its last trip here
Mumbai city news: The ship, named after the last Aztec Emperor Cuauhtémoc, is a naval academy that trains cadets on the move
Fifteen years since its last voyage here, Mexican ship ARM Cuauhtémoc docked in Mumbai on Wednesday.
The ship, named after the last Aztec Emperor Cuauhtémoc, is a naval academy that trains cadets on the move. It made its first trip in 1982 and has done 34 instructional journeys covering 7,05,012 nautical miles since — that’s about the same as going around the Earth 33 times.
“The journey of the Cuauhtémoc is not only to train cadets, but to also strengthen the ties of friendship between Mexico and other countries. We are proud to welcome it into India after 15 years since its last visit here”, said Mexican Ambassador to India Melba Pría. The vessel is headed by Captain Rafael Antonio Lagunes Arteaga, and has a 234-strong crew, of which 43 are cadets of the Heroic Military Naval School of Mexico.
“Generations of Mexicans have had an emotional bond with this boat. It has the nickname ‘Caballero de los Mares’, or ‘Knight of the Seas’ in Spanish,” Pría said.
READ: Indian Navy begins search ops for Mexican woman cadet who fell overboard
During their stay in Mumbai, the crew will take part in exercises with their counterparts from the Indian Navy and will also take time out for a guided tour of Mumbai.
The Cuauhtémoc has visited 59 countries since it first set sail. For its 2017 tour, the ship will visit 15 ports in 12 countries. It has already covered Panama, the United States, Spain, Italy, Greece and Egypt. After India, the ship will set sail to Singapore, the Philippines, China, South Korea, Japan and the United States, before ending its journey at the Mexican port of Acapulco.
Soon after docking, the crew observed a minute’s silence for a cadet, Eva Lidia N, who fell overboard on June 11 while manoeuvring of sails in bad weather at sea. The Indian Navy had launched a search operation for the cadet off the Goa coast.
The Cuauhtémoc will be docked in Mumbai till June 26.