Sea Cloud Spirit, the majestic new sailing ship of the German shipping company Sea Cloud, was christened in Palma de Mallorca last Thursday, with Gabriela Toran, wife of naval engineer Iñigo Echenique, as godmother.
Infanta Elena was originally slated to be the godmother, but apparently withdrew at the last minute. The shipping company then decided to reward the efforts of Iñigo Echenique, who designed the vessel, by bestowing the honor upon his wife. The ship was built entirely in Galician shipyards after a long journey that began in 2008 at Factoría Naval de Marín, but encountered serious financial difficulties, and was finally completed and outfitted at Metalships & Docks.
The event featured another Galician highlight: a bottle of champagne blessed after completing the Camino de Santiago and passing through Santiago de Compostela. The credit goes to the shipping company's lawyer, Javier Arias-Camisón, who carried two bottles on a nearly 120-kilometer pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela to be blessed. The third bottle will be auctioned off to charity during the inaugural voyage.
The Sea Cloud Spirit is a three-masted schooner, 138 meters long and 17.2 meters wide, capable of deploying 4,165 square meters of sail, and with capacity for 138 passengers and 90 crew members. 40 of those crew members will be dedicated to sailing.
The ship will be cruising the Mediterranean this summer, and until next October it will make four voyages based in Civitavecchia. In November, it will change its route and move to the Canary Islands, where it will remain until spring. Its itineraries will then shift to Northern Europe.
Next year it will return to the Mediterranean, making several stops, first in Galician ports.
