School ship “Sagres” in Rio de Janeiro
The school ship “Sagres” arrived in Rio de Janeiro today through the waters of Guanabara Bay, a coastal indentation that gave its name to the vessel when it belonged to the Brazilian Navy, having been received by the Portuguese Minister of Defense.
More than a month sailing, after leaving Portugal on January 5 for a circumnavigation trip, the school ship “Sagres” docked in Brazil, “in a cycle that is complete”, according to the minister of National Defense of Portugal, João Gomes Cravinho.
The Portuguese minister had lunch on board the Portuguese vessel, in the company of his Brazilian counterpart, after giving a lecture at the Escola Superior de Guerra and having participated in a bilateral meeting. From this meeting came proposals such as a meeting, in July, of the defense industries of the two countries, and a meeting between the ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs, due, according to the minister, to the “international strategic environment”.
142 crew members arrived in Brazil on board the school ship, as well as 50 students from Aporvela – Portuguese Sailing Training Association and two researchers from the SAIL project (Space-Atmosphere-Ocean Interactions in the marine boundary Layer), which aims to “study the interaction between space and planet Earth”. The trip is part of the celebrations of the fifth centenary of Fernão de Magalhães’ circumnavigation trip.
Among the ship’s crew members is Joaquim Mendes, 43, in charge of the sergeants’ crown, following in the footsteps of his father, who, between 1978 and 1979, also made a return on board the same vessel.
In the next five days that the vessel will be moored in Rio de Janeiro, the commander of the school ship “Sagres”, Manuel Maurício Camilo awaits the visit of “thousands” of people, ensuring that the Brazilian city is a special stopping point.
The circumnavigation trip will last for 371 days, with the next stop being Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. The school ship “Sagres” will pass through more than 20 ports in 19 different countries.
On December 30, the Navy vessel arrives in Portugal, more precisely, Ponta Delgada, in the Azores, with the return to Lisbon scheduled for January 10, 2021.
