5 July, 2016 by Juan Carlos Díaz Lorenzo

The frigate “Danmark”, in free sailing, heading southwest

After four days in the port of Tenerife, this morning the frigate “Danmark” set sail again. After leaving the Los Llanos Dock behind, it was in free sailing and headed southwest, later deploying its sails to continue the long journey that will take it to Rio de Janeiro, where it will arrive a few days before the inauguration of the Olympic Games.

Together with our emblematic “Juan Sebastián de Elcano”, it is the training ship most closely associated with the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where it made its first stop, newly delivered, in November 1933. Since then, it has made more than fifty visits, only interrupted during the years of World War II and at the beginning of this century, for economic reasons regarding its operation.

It is a beautiful ship, an emblem and ambassador of Denmark, built for the practical training of future officers of the Danish Merchant Navy. So strong is the bond this ship has with the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife that a street in the city bears its name. Since 2003, it has been operated by the MARTEC Polytechnic Institute. On this occasion, it arrived under the command of Captain Kurt Andersen with a crew of 15 and 80 cadets, and upon arrival, it was welcomed by the Danish consul in the Canary Islands, Bjon Tronholm.

Designed by naval engineer Aage Larsen, the elegant sailing ship took shape at the Nakskov shipyard and slid down the slipway in 1932. Rigged as a three-masted frigate, it deploys 26 sails with an area of 1,636 square meters. It is a ship of 790 gross tons, with a steel hull measuring 77 m in length, 9.80 m in beam, and 5.20 m in draft. For calm weather and port maneuvers, it has a 486-horsepower engine that drives a fixed-pitch propeller and averages nine knots with good wind.