Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - 'Esperanza,' the Greenpeace vessel that has been patrolling the Gulf of California looking for the illegal fishing nets that kill Vaquita Porpoises, will be in Puerto Vallarta from August 21 to 25, 2015.

The Esperanza will be docked on Pier 3 at the Maritime Terminal and will be offering the public three days of guided tours of the ship's helipad, hangar and Command Center during its five day visit to our port.

The Esperanza was one of 14 similar vessels commissioned by the Russian government and used by the Russian Navy as a fire-fighting ship in Murmansk. Lack of funds saw the ship laid up for some years in the late 80s, then sold a couple of times, before Greenpeace took possession and refitted the ship to make it environmentally friendly.

After many months of refitting the ship to make it as environmentally friendly as possible, improvements included: the removal or safe containment of all asbestos; fitting a special fuel system to avoid spillage; newly fitted, more efficient, diesel electric propulsion; on board recycling of waste water, leaving only clean water pumped overboard; a waste based heating system; bilge water purifiers, 15 times more effective than current legislation demands; TBT-free hull paint; ammonia based refrigeration and air-conditioning rather than climate changing and ozone depleting Freon gas - the first Dutch registered vessel to be so fitted; and an environmentally and economically efficient propulsion system to reduce CO2 emissions.

The largest vessel in the Greenpeace fleet, Esperanza – Spanish for "hope" - was named by supporters and was launched in February 2002. Since then, the Esperanza has participated in several protests, including the most recent Earth Summit held in Johannesburg, and has documented the impact of fishing fleets on the African coast and beyond with their "Defending Our Oceans" campaign.

The Esperanza is currently visiting Mazatlan, Sinaloa, from whence she will embark on her journey to Puerto Vallarta.