Juan David Latorre
Last Wednesday, the ambassador of Ecuador, Wilma Andrade, announced at the Xapó Restaurant in Madrid the return to the Spanish city of Bilbao of the Guayas School Ship (BESGUA) of the Republic of Ecuador.
In that Basque city, this training ship was built 47 years ago by the Celaya Workshops and Shipyards. There, it will pay tribute to the city in the framework of its Aste Nagusia 2024 festival known as the Great Week.
The BESGUA will arrive at the Ramón de la Sota pier, next Friday, August 23 at 8 am, where it will remain until the morning of Monday, August 26, On the 24th and 25th of August, he will offer guided tours on board and a concert by his International Cruise Instruction ‘Baltic Sea 2024’. The symphony band.
The ambassador of Ecuador, Wilma Andrade Muñoz, together with the military and defense attaché, Colonel E.M.C Carlos Ayala; the commercial advisor-director of the Office of Pro Ecuador, Borys Mejía, and the Consul of Ecuador in Bilbao, Pablo Buitrón, with the support of the International University of La Rioja, prepare a high-level protocol agenda including the arrival ceremony and an evening wine of honour, attended by distinguished diplomatic personalities, The European Union has a role to play in this respect.
On 19 April 2024, the BESGUA received the appointment of ‘Ambassador of Cocoa and Ecuadorian Chocolate’ by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Baltic Sea 2024 cruise began on 2 May and will end on 11 October.
At the arrival ceremony, BESGUA Captain Bernardo Gordon Unda is expected to give Ambassador Wilma Andrade a replica of the Mayo Chinchipe vessel (5,500-3,500 A.P.), which is part of the oldest archaeological study and discovery known to date on the origin of cocoa in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
The voyage comprises a total of 11 ports (3 in the Americas and 8 in Europe). So far BESGUA has visited 8 of them: Baltimore (USA), Helsinki (Finland), Tallinn (Estonia), Turku (Finland), Mariehamn (Finland), Szczecin (Poland) and Kiel (Germany). The next stop will be Bilbao (Spain) and are to visit Lisbon (Portugal), Balboa (Panama) and Cartagena (Colombia).
Since its construction, the so-called ‘Itinerant Ambassador of Ecuador’ has made more than 35 international cruises in the seas and ports of the five continents, where the tricolor flag of the Republic is displayed and promotes the culture, gastronomy and tourist attractions of Ecuador.
The BESGUA’s crew consists of 154 members of the Ecuadorian Navy: 114 officers and crew and 40 midshipmen from the Naval School Comandante Rafael Morán Valverde.
