A training ship of the Romanian navy on an anniversary voyage
The Romanian training ship Mircea, which is also the countrys long-lasting ambassador, is currently on an international anniversary voyage.
Roxana Vasile, 06.05.2019, 14:10
Training ship Mircea, Romania’s ambassador for the past 80 years on the world’s seas and oceans, on Sunday left the harbor on an international training voyage. A symbol of the Romanian navy, the famous sailing ship is bound for Hamburg, the German port city where it was built. The comeback route will be the same as its maiden voyage 80 years ago. During this three-month voyage, the ship will cross the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara, the Aegean Sea, the Mediterranean, the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. The ship will stop in 12 ports in Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Portugal, Malta and Turkey.
The ship has a crew of 179 out of which 57 students of the ‘Mircea the Old’ Naval Academy, 32 cadets of the Romanian Navy’s School for Warrant Officers as well as 14 foreign cadets from naval academies in Albania, Bulgaria, China, France, Poland, Portugal, Turkey and Ukraine. All these young people, boys and girls, bade farewell to their relatives and boarded the ship full of hope and big expectations. Our correspondent also went on board the aforementioned ship to talk to them.
Alexandru Soare, a 19 year old cadet of the School for Warrant Officers, is looking forward to becoming a sailor: “I hope it will be an easy trip without too many storms and also hope to learn as much as I can on board of this ship.”
Rear admiral and Deputy Chief of Staff Mihai Panait gave assurances to the cadets and their relatives: “Parents and relatives, students and crew — I would like you to know, these young people will be on good hands during this voyage. And I would like to wish all the foreign cadets fair winds and following seas”.
Built at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg, the ship was launched on September 22nd 1938 and named Mircea, after the famous prince Mircea the Old who ruled Wallachia between 1386 and 1418. During his reign Wallachia knew a great period of development and its ships travelled all over the Black Sea, the Aegean and the Mediterranean.
Mircea training ship is actually wearing an emblem which portrays the famous king in royal attire and wearing a crown. In 1939 the vessel entered the service of the Romanian Navy and reached the port of Constanta on May 17, where she was given a warm welcome by the cadets of the Romanian Navy School, the authorities and the other ships in the port. The ship has three masts, the highest measuring 44 meters, which can hold veils of a total surface of 1,750 square meters.
