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Inside the BAP Union: Peruvian vessel wows crowds at Aberdeen Tall Ships festival

Inside the BAP Union: Peruvian vessel wows crowds at Aberdeen Tall Ships festival

With 49 Tall Ships berthed at the Port of Aberdeen for the Tall Ships, one of the most notable – and noticeable – is the BAP Union.
It has travelled all the way from Peru in South America to get to the Granite City, about 7,500 nautical miles (8,630 miles).
As well as being one of the biggest, it is also the newest Tall Ship at the event, having only been built in 2015.
Owned by the Peruvian Navy, it is their first sail training ship and acts as a training vessel for officers and naval cadets.
It has a total of 167 permanent crew members, as well as 90 trainees.
The boat is also used as a 'sailing ambassador', promoting Peru in its various voyages around the world.
Taking three years to build, BAP Union measures an impressive 46.26m, with its hull standing at 99.06m.
Today – the second day of the Aberdeen leg of the 2025 Tall Ships Races – people queued in their numbers to get a glimpse of the impressive vessel.
Unlike most other Tall Ships, it has its own museum, which showcases Peru.
The exhibition has Peruvian art, the country's famed cotton and even a large fluffy alpaca, an animal native to the Latin American nation.
And this impressed Kirsty Ogilvie, who was visiting the Tall Ships with her family.
She said: 'It was nice to see a museum in there.'
This was the first ship the Ogilvie family had visited today and Eliza added: 'It was really good.'
Prior to coming to Aberdeen, the boat was moored for a week at West India Docks in London and is the largest of its kind in Latin America.
One person here to take in its impressive scale was German tourist Angelika, who travelled with her work colleague from Baden-Wurttemberg to attend the event.
'I love it, it's very nice,' she told The Press and Journal.
'It's very well done,' she said of the ten-year-old vessel.
And what about the Peruvian music that was being played on the BAP Union?
'There's a good atmosphere,' she declared.
A four-masted Tall Ship, which is more than 115m in length, it is not just equipped for the captain, crew and tourists.
It is also ready to welcome diplomats and political leaders from across the world.
There are VIP state rooms and a chamber for special guests.
And just like a 'city at sea', the boat also has its own dentist's cabin. Its doctor's cabin can be turned into an operating theatre.
Neil Gordon, whose first Tall Ship of the day was BAP Union said it was a 'fantastic' experience.
Although he did jokingly acknowledge that he went to the 'best first'.
He added: 'I thought it was really good, there's lots of interesting stuff.'
And where will Mr Gordon be going for his next holiday? 'We think we might now go to Peru.'
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