The Mexican Navy’s training ship Cuauhtémoc set sail from Acapulco on Wednesday, returning to the seas for the first time since last year’s tragic accident in Brooklyn, New York, that claimed the lives of two young cadets.

The Cuauhtémoc Sailing Training Ship began a three-month “North Pacific” cruise, bound for various ports in the United States and Canada.

Among the ports the Cuauhtémoc — a Class A sail training vessel, also known as a “tall ship” — will visit during its three-month voyage are: Honolulu, Hawaii; Seward, Alaska; Victoria, Canada; San Francisco and San Diego, California. 

The emblematic ship set sail with 281 passengers — 144 naval cadets (45 women and 99 men) and a crew of 137 (106 men and 31 women) — and is scheduled to return to the port of Acapulco on Oct. 15. 

The voyage, during which the cadets will put into practice the knowledge acquired in the classroom and strengthen their navigation skills, represents the final stage of professional training for the cadets before they graduate as Navy officers.

This is the first international voyage for the Cuauhtémoc since the tragic events of May 17, 2025, that resulted in the death of two Navy cadets and injuries to 20 others aboard the vessel when it crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has not yet issued a final report, but its preliminary findings identified three issues: a bent rudder; a possible failure of the variable pitch propeller (part of the ship’s propulsion system); and the fact that local harbor pilots helping maneuver the ship gave commands in English that were translated into Spanish for the ship’s crew. 

During Wednesday’s Bon Voyage ceremony, Navy Minister Admiral Raymundo Pedro Morales addressed the crowd from the deck of the 44-year-old three-masted barque.

“This is not a simple trip,” he reminded the crew. “It is the crucible that will finish forging your mettle, audacity and leadership as officers who will command [the Mexican Navy].”

The Cuauhtémoc — built in Bilbao, Spain, in 1981 — made its maiden voyage in July 1982 and is affectionately known as Mexico’s “Ambassador and Knight of the Seas.”  

Also aboard the ship before its departure, Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado said the vessel and its crew have “a very specific role: sharing the message of peace and goodwill of all the Mexican people in every foreign port they proudly visit.”

With reports from El Universal, La Jornada and Record