The Portuguese training ship 'Sagres' has started a 371-day circumnavigation voyage. José Sena Goulão/Lusa

Portugal: Sagres training ship begins Tokyo trip to assess ocean state

The Portuguese training ship ‘Sagres’ has started a 371-day circumnavigation voyage, departing from Lisbon, that will have, among the highlights, the arrival in Tokyo and the development of scientific projects onboard.

There are 142 garrison members on the vessel, including four women, as well as 50 instructors from Aporvela – Portuguese Sailing Training Association and two SAIL project researchers, for a trip that is part of the celebrations of the fifth centenary of the circumnavigation of Fernando Magellan.

Several hundred people gathered at the of Santa Apolónia River Terminal before 10 a.m. on Sunday to say goodbye to the crew.

Shortly after, a ceremony to hand over the Portuguese flag to be used in the Tokyo2020 Olympic Games began before the president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who was greeted with applause, the minister of the sea, Ricardo Serrão Santos, the minister of the environment, Matos Fernandes, the minister of defence, João Gomes Cravinho, as well as the secretaries of state for national defence, Jorge Seguro Sanches, and youth and sport, João Paulo Rebelo.

After the ceremony and the musical moment that followed, Sagres’ left for its first official stop in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, Spain.

Photo: Mário Cruz/Lusa

The voyage now beginning was in preparation for over a year and a half, involving logistical aspects, the organisation of materials, the ship and the sailors themselves, the captain of the training ship explained to journalists.

António Maurício Camilo admitted the possibility of facing “anomalous situations” during the voyage, due to climate change, but he said that the crew was prepared for it.

The second lieutenant Helena Bouças told Lusa that this mission involves great personal and logistical preparation, which forces the crew to take with them only the most important, considering the lack of space due to the number of people on board.

As for the main challenges they will face, Helena Bouças pointed to Cape Horn, in South America, for its history and its time.

For Captain Mauricio Camilo, the main highlights of the trip are the arrival in Tokyo to hand over the Portuguese flag to the Olympic delegation in the Japanese capital, where the ship will initially present itself as the House of Portugal.

Throughout the trip and the various ports where the ship will dock, many people are expected willing to visit the ship and learn what is being developed on it, he noted.

This is still the first time that the ship will have scientific projects onboard. They are going to measure the state of the oceans and the atmosphere, the captain said.

In a statement to Lusa, the minister of the sea explained that the voyage involves a series of scientific protocols to learn more about currents, the influence of the climate, biodiversity and the pollution of plastics and microplastics.

The Sagres will pass through more than 20 ports in 19 different countries.

Photo: José Sena Goulão/ Lusa

After the first stop in Tenerife, it will be followed by the city of Praia (19 January ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (10 February), Cape Town, South Africa (27 March), Maputo (9 April), Jakarta (29 May), Tokyo (18 July), Honolulu (Hawaii), in the United States (27 August) and Cartagena de Indias, Colombia (5 December).

On 30 December, the training ship Sagres will arrive back in Portugal, more precisely, at Ponta Delgada, in the Azores, with the return to Lisbon scheduled for 10 January 2021.