The INS Sudarshini Barcelona arrival came on Tuesday, as the Indian Navy's sail training ship added Spain to her ongoing transoceanic expedition Lokayan 26.

The stopover brings the tall ship to the Mediterranean coast.

INS Sudarshini Barcelona arrival opens a Spanish leg

During her stay in the Catalan port, INS Sudarshini will undertake professional and cultural engagements with the Spanish Navy and other maritime stakeholders in the city. The Indian Navy has not detailed the full engagement schedule.


Sea trainees to take part in seamanship exchanges

Sea trainees embarked onboard the ship will take part in professional interactions and seamanship exchanges during the Barcelona stop, continuing a pattern that has run through Lokayan 26's earlier ports. At Ponta Delgada in the Azores, sea trainees exchanged with the Portuguese Navy's own sail training vessel, NRP Sagres, and a similar exchange followed before the ship's departure from Lisbon in late August.

Lokayan 26's Atlantic and European legs so far

The voyage has already called at Norfolk, Baltimore, New York and Boston on its American leg before crossing the Atlantic, then undertook a joint passing exercise with the Portuguese Navy's NRP Sagres after calling earlier at Ponta Delgada in the Azores.

Barcelona joins the itinerary

Barcelona is now the newest stop on that route, extending the INS Sudarshini Barcelona arrival into the western Mediterranean for the first time on this voyage.

Ship to open for public visits on Friday

INS Sudarshini will be open to visitors on Friday, giving residents of Barcelona a chance to step aboard and experience India's maritime traditions and the spirit of the Navy's ocean sailing training programme.

Sail training voyages of this kind are used by the Indian Navy to expose young officers and sea cadets to open ocean navigation, watch keeping and traditional seamanship skills over extended deployments, a role Lokayan 26 has carried across its Atlantic and Mediterranean legs alike.

The Spanish Navy, the Indian Navy and the Consulate General of India in Barcelona have not issued separate statements on the port call.