HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Crew members of the Peruvian navy ship BAP Unión stood clad in red-and-white uniforms high atop the vessel’s sail-bearing yards as it pulled into Victor Wharf at Naval Base Guam on Wednesday.
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero stood at the wharf with a CHamoru cultural delegation to greet Capt. José Luis Are Corzo, commanding officer of the Uníon, with the traditional bendision. Top brass from Naval Base Guam and Joint Region Marianas were there to salute the Peruvian sailors.
Guam is the second port of call for the Uníon and her crew after it embarked on a 10-month circumnavigation of the globe, according to Arcé. The ship and her sailors will be moored in the island’s waters until Friday. Members of the public were invited by the ship’s captain to visit.
The Uníon made landfall on Guam after sailing 27 days from Tahiti, which was 27 days from Peru. It’s the first time the Peruvian navy has made port on Guam since 1967, according to Arcé.
“It’s not a coincidence that we pulled into Guam, because our nations’ interests and our navy’s interests is here,” said the captain, adding that he was very grateful for the welcome he received.
Decked out with information about Peruvian history and a showroom, “La Casa Peru,” devoted exclusively to Peruvian culture, the Uníon is serving a diplomatic role as it circumnavigates the globe.
“We decided to cross the Pacific Ocean to the other side and see the nations that we share this Pacific Ocean, that has been so important over the centuries,” Arcé said. “If we look at the history on these waters, and the development of the world, how it is nowadays is dependent on what the results were, of the judgments on these oceans, on these lands.”
His crew’s expedition is the first circumnavigation of the globe by the Peruvian navy in 167 years. The circuitous route next will bring sailors to Tokyo, Busan and Shanghai, among a total of 24 ports in 14 countries across five continents, on a journey that totals 34,000 nautical miles, according to the vessel’s captain.
The trip originally was meant to take place in 2021, a celebration of the 200th year of Peru’s independence, Arcé said, but COVID-19 stalled the trip.
Training mission
Besides diplomacy, the Uníon’s other purpose is to serve as a training vessel for 197 midshipmen who are going through the Naval Academy of Peru. In their third year of the five-year academy, cadets spend six months aboard a vessel to forge their character in shared hardship, Arcé said.
Built in 2012 as a training vessel, the Uníon is hosting its sixth training course during the voyage and cadets will leave at a port in Rome and fly home to make room for an upcoming class of midshipmen.
Crewmembers will have a chance to go ashore while the Uníon is in port, to get a taste of island’s culture, something that’s an important part of the training mission.
According to Capt. Michael Smith, chief of staff for Joint Region Marianas, U.S. service members stationed on Guam will have a chance for a few soccer, or football, matches with the Peruvian crew.
“They’re really, really, really, really good at football. So we look forward to at least the military team giving them hopefully some sort of, you know, run for their money,” Smith said.
Smith also spoke about how the Uníon’s visit demonstrated the importance of the U.S. and its allies’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.
“The idea that a vessel that decides, because of its national interests or because of economic interests, to go from point A to point B, should be an inherent right of free trade and commerce, … should be something that people expect,” Smith said. “By showing the flag, by having our allies and partners come through the crossroads of the Pacific, Guam and all the … wonderful port visits the captain has laid out, it’s visible proof that our allies and partners are interested in participating in that free and open Indo-Pacific.”
The Peruvian navy’s BAP Unión docks Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023, at Victor Wharf on Naval Base Guam. The ship will be visiting Guam through Aug. 19 as part of its circumnavigation trip.
Capt. José Arce, left, commanding officer of the Peruvian navy’s BAP Unión, and Capt. Michael A. Smith, Joint Region Marianas chief of staff, speak with media during a press conference Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023, in the ship’s ward room at Victor Wharf on Naval Base Guam.