The Peruvian Navy on Jan. 27 commissioned its first-ever training vessel, Unión, which will be the largest such sailing ship in Latin America.

During the flag raising ceremony at the main naval port of Callao, President Ollanta Humala celebrated the ship's incorporation as a demonstration of the advancements in Peruvian naval engineering.

"This training ship shows how we have strengthened our infrastructure," the president boasted. "Today more than ever, our shipyards are exporting services, and we are showing the international community that we can build the kinds of vessels that we were previously used to buying."

Peru's Shipyard Marine Industrial Services, or SIMA, built the ship in collaboration with the Spanish firms CYPSA and Navantia. Defense Minister Jakke Valavivi praised Unión's completion, calling it "a lesson of national unity and testimony to the technical capacity of Peruvians who carried out this project following the highest international standards."

Ship Serves Double Purpose: School and Embassy

Unión will have a crew of up to 250 sailors and holds an auditorium, a library, a computer lab and classrooms where officer candidates will study various subjects, including astronomical navigation, meteorology, oceanography, hydrography and naval navigation, the radio station detailed.

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