The ‘Juan Sebastián de Elcano’ departs Panama after participating in the 500th Anniversary of the discovery of the Pacific Ocean

The training ship ‘Juan Sebastián de Elcano’ participated last weekend in the festivities to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the Pacific Ocean by the Spanish explorer Núñez de Balboa. The celebration was held in the city of Balboa.

One of the activities took place on the 19th with a wreath laying ceremony in the statue of Vasco Núñez de Balboa by the sea in Panama City. The ceremony was attended by the Spanish Ambassador in Panama, the Commanding Officer of the ‘Juan Sebastián de Elcano’ and a group of midshipmen. At the end of the ceremony they all sang the Spanish Navy Anthem.

On the same day, the ship welcomed the First Lady of Panama, Marta Linares de Martinelli, who is also the President of the National Committee in charge of organizing the 500th Anniversary celebrations. The First Lady greeted a number of schoolchildren from different schools who were also visiting the ship.

The ship has now set sail towards Miami and Cape Canaveral where she will participate in another celebration: the 500th Anniversary of the discovery of Florida by Ponce de León.

The ship is also celebrating her own 85th anniversary. The first training cruise was in 1928.

In her 85 years of history, the ‘Juan Sebastián de Elcano’ has carried out 83 training cruises, 10 of them around the world, visiting more than 70 nations and calling at 1,140 ports. The ship has sailed one million, six hundred and sixty thousand nautical miles which amounts to 34 years of continuous navigation.