London, England - The "Cuauhtemoc," a Mexican Navy sailing ship, arrived last weekend at Portsmouth Naval Base on the southern coast of England, where it remained over the weekend so that the general public could visit free of charge.

The training ship, which hit British land within the framework of the 'Year of Mexico' in the United Kingdom, was received on Saturday by the naval port authority and the Ambassador of Mexico in the United Kingdom, Diego Gómez Pickering.

Belonging to the Secretaría de Marina-Armada de México (Mexico's Ministry of the Navy, or ARM), the boat dubbed the 'Ambassador and Gentleman of the Seas' and its crew of 225 sailors sailed from Acapulco, Guerrero on April 25, "carrying a message of peace and goodwill within its mandate to forge new cadets of the Heroic Naval Military School, who will increase their knowledge in nautical science," the Embassy of Mexico in UK said in a statement.

Whilst alongside the HMS Collingwood and HMS Daring in Portsmouth Harbour, a training division of sixty young Mexican Naval officers boarded the HMS Collingwood for an insight into the training undertaken by their British counterparts.

Dividing in to four groups, the cadets spent the afternoon receiving comprehensive briefs and tours of the training facilities, which included the Close Range Training Section where they were all given the opportunity to experience the General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) simulator and the Bridge Simulator in Endeavour Building. The Officers were also given the opportunity to develop their leadership skills in a serious of leadership tasks at the Royal Naval Leadership Academy.

Midshipman Taydee Cruz, 19, said, "I have been in the cadets for 4 years now and I'm in my senior year about to qualify as a Warfare Officer. I've visited London and seen famous sites during my visit including Big Ben and Buckingham palace. This morning I visited a submarine for the first time ever, we don't have those in the Mexican Navy. I'd quite like to serve on one! Today's activities have been really fun. They've helped me with my team work skills that will be useful on board and increased my confidence. When I complete my training I'm looking forward to learning English and becoming a Warfare Officer."

Midshipman Moises Florencia, 20, said, "The visit to London has been the highlight of my deployment. At Collingwood I have enjoyed learning and observing the different methods utilized by the Royal Navy. Our visit is the last element of our five year training program whilst deployed onboard ARM Cuauhtemoc."

In addition to the HMS Collingwood visit, twelve other members of the Cuauhtemoc's crew were offered the opportunity to tour one of the Royal Navy's newest warships at Portsmouth Naval Base. They stepped on board Type 45 destroyer HMS Daring to view the bridge, operations room, ship control center, hangar and flight deck.

During the remainder of the "Levant 2015" (a term which refers to the eastern Mediterranean Sea or Mare Nostrum) training cruise, the Cuauhtemoc will continue on its journey, visiting 14 ports in 13 countries, among which are Spain, France, Italy, Turkey and Greece. At the end of the final year of training, all of the Cadets will deploy with a ship and visit different places around the world.