Ecuadorian Naval ship with 153 crew arrive in Kochi

Kochi: An Ecuadorian naval ship with 153 crew, including 51 officer trainees on board, is visiting Kochi.

The sail training ship Buque de Armada de Ecuador (BAE) Guayas, commanded by Captain Carlos Zumarraga, arrived here yesterday.

Mntor Patricio Villagomez Merino, Ambassador of the Republic of Ecuador in India, accompanied by the Commanding Officer, interacted with Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba, Flag Officer Commanding-In-Chief Southern Naval Command today.

"Other interactions including exchange of visits by specialist officers and men from both the navies to the ship and Indian Navy's training facilities at Kochi as well as sport fixtures between the officer trainees of the two navies were also held," a Navy release said.

The ship is presently on 294 days of voyage around the world, visiting about 20 ports. She had departed Guayaquil for the circumnavigation on May 12, this year, which was unprecedented by Navy of Ecuador.

The ports previously visited by the ship are Balboa, Colon, Havana, New York, Belfast, Aalesund, Kristiansand, Aalborg, Bremerhaven, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Cartagena, Civitavecchia, Piero, Alexandria, Jeddah and Doha.

The remaining ports planned to be visited during the current circumnavigation by the sail-vessel are Port Klang, Jakarta, Perth, Sydney, Wellington, Valparaiso and Callao prior arriving Guayaquil, Ecuador, the release said.

BAE Guayas will depart from Kochi on November 17 and will visit Port Klang (Malaysia) next, it added.