One of the world’s tallest and fastest sailing ships, the Argentinean navy’s ARA Libertad arrived in Cape Town on Saturday, April 26 on a six-day goodwill visit before leaving for Mauritius on May 2, with amongst others a South African naval student onboard.

Cape Town is the first stop on the ship’s eight month around the world trip. She is to visit another 16 ports before returning to Buenos Aires on December 6.

Sub-Lieutenant Thandeka Snail (24) of the South African navy’s SAS Amatola, who originally hails from Ennerdale near Soweto in Gauteng, will leave with the Libertad for a two month stint on part the ships journey. She will be one of eight students from across the globe who were chosen for training on the Libertad during her present voyage around the world.

Built in 1958 in the Argentinean shipyard of Rio Santiago, the Libertad was incorporated into the Argentinean navy as a training frigate in 1963. She weighs 3 765 tons, measures almost 104 meters in length and has a beam of 14,3 meters. Her 27 sails span 2 700 m2 of sail surface and her main mast is 52 metres tall.

Since her maiden voyage as training vessel in 1963, she has sailed more than 800 000 nautical miles and visited 513 ports in 69 countries. This is her 39th training voyage and her third visit to Cape Town.

The commanding officer, Captain Juan José Iglesias, is a veteran of the South Atlantic Conflict (Malvinas War) of 1982. Under his command are 310 men and women including 26 officers, 90 midshipmen, 186 warrant and non-commissioned officers, and eight junior naval officers from other countries.

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