The historic Spanish vessel, JUAN SEBASTIAN DE ELCANO, have crossed the Suez Canal, as part of the southern convoy from the New Suez Canal, on its voyage from Saudi Arabia bound for Spain, to commemorate the centenary of the first Spanish voyage around the world.
The authority had taken navigational measures commensurate with the sailing ship, which crossed at the end of the southern convoy in the new Suez Canal due to its slow speed of 8 knots, which is less than the speed specified for sailing in the canal.
the Suez Canal crossed 51 ships from both directions, with a tonnage of 3.5 million tons, where 25 ships crossed from the north with a tonnage of 1.7 million , and 26 ships crossed from the south direction of the new Suez Canal with a tonnage of 1.8 million tons
Juan Sebastián de Elcano is a training ship of the Spanish Navy. It is a four-masted topsail, steel-hulled barquentine (schooner barque). At 113 metres (371 ft) long, it is the third-largest tall ship in the world, and is the sailing vessel that has sailed the furthest, covering more than 2,000,000 nautical miles (3,700,000 km; 2,300,000 mi) in its lifetime.
It is named after Spanish explorer Juan Sebastián Elcano, captain of Ferdinand Magellan’s last exploratory fleet and the man who completed the first circumnavigation of the world. The ship carries the Elcano coat of arms, which was granted to the family by Emperor Charles I following Elcano’s return in 1522 from Magellan’s global expedition. The coat of arms is a globe with the motto “Primus Circumdedisti Me” (meaning: “First to circumnavigate me”).
‘Juan Sebastián de Elcano’ was built in 1927 in Cadiz, Spain, and its hull was designed by the naval architect Mr C E Nicholson of Camper and Nicholsons Ltd of Southampton. Constructed by Echevarrieta y Larrinaga shipyard[4] in Cadiz. After the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in April 1931 the ship became part of the Spanish Republican Navy.
