Australian Maritime Museum – Ecuador’s tall ship to be special guest
by Jude Timms on 24 Dec 2015
The Guayas - Special guest at Australian National Maritime Museum Carlos Zumarraga
A parade of sails featuring Sydney tall ships South Passage, James Craig and South Swan as well as the Sydney Ports Fire Tug will escort the Ecuadorian navy training ship, The Guayas, as it enters Sydney Heads at 9am on Wednesday 6 January on its way to the Australian National Maritime Museum.
The Guayas, affectionately known as Ecuador’s ambassador ship, sailed into Perth on 21 December after seven moths at sea and will visit Sydney on its Vuelta al Mundo (Round the World) voyage 2015-2016. It will arrive at the Australian National Maritime Museum at 10 am where it will be open for four days for visitors to climb on board, meet the crew and learn more about this unique vessel and its message.
The ship seeks to strengthen relations between Ecuador and visited nations whilst promoting Ecuadorian tourism. It is also important for the training and academic development of Ecuadorian Navy personnel. It displays the Ecuadorian national flag and a banner with the Ecuadorian tourism slogan ‘All you need is Ecuador.’
The Guayas was built in Bilbao, Spain by the Astilleros Celaya in 1976. It sails with a crew of 154 sailors and trainees; representatives of the Royal Australian Navy will be among the crew sailing from Perth to Sydney. This visit is the first since 1988 when it visited Australia for its Bicentennial celebrations.
The Vuelta al Mundo voyage is the longest tour the ship has undertaken. It will visit 23 ports in 22 countries in 294 days. It will traverse four oceans and travel 35,000 nautical miles. In total, the Guayas will be on tour for ten months. 48 midshipmen will complete their navigation course to become officers of the Ecuadorian navy.
The Embassy of Ecuador are calling on Sydneysiders to bring their own vessels out to meet The Guayas as it sails into Sydney Heads on 6 January. Alternatively you can buy a ticket to sail on one of the escort vessels: South
Passage $55, 07 3893 3777, James
Craig $20–40, 02 9398 3888, Southern
Swan $50–99, 02 8015 5571.
The ship will be open 1pm – 5pm on Wednesday 6 Jan and from 11am – 6pm Thursday 7 – Saturday 9 January. Entry is free. For further information on The Gauyas click
here
The Australian National Maritime Museum on Darling Harbour is open daily from 9.30 am to 6.00 pm. For further information call 02 9298 3777 or click
here
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