Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum

TWO Spanish navy ships will be visiting Alicante to mark the start of the Volvo Ocean Race, which commences its round the world trip tomorrow Saturday (October 11).

The ships: a patrol vessel and a hydrographic research ship will be at Alicante port until Sunday (October 12).

The ministry of defence issued a statement saying that the patrol ship, Infanta Cristina, which is carrying out a marine surveillance and safety campaign in Spanish waters and the research vessel, Malaspina, which is currently making a bathymetric survey of the Almeria and Murcia coastline will be arriving at pier (muelle) 14 in Alicante port on Thursday (October 9).

Visits of the two ships are taking place today, 10) from 10.30-13.30 and from 16.00-19.30.

Additionally, in the vicinity of the ships, there will he a static exhibition about naval diving.

The Infanta Cristina, numbered P-77, is the fourth Descubierta (Discovery) class corvette-size patrol boat in the Spanish maritime action force and is based in Cartagena.

Its main missions are maritime surveillance, covering such fields as environmental protection, fishery surveillance, the fight against illegal immigration, drug trafficking and maritime traffic control.

In the early 1990s the boat participated in interceptions in the Red Sea as part of a multinational force blockade imposed by the United Nations.

2008 saw the vessel participating in Operation UNIFIL (United Nations in Lebanon interim force) and more recently in missions in the fight against piracy in Somalia as part of Operation Atalanta, where she escorted vulnerable merchant traffic, such as vessels from the world food programme, in transit through the Gulf of Aden. Infanta Cristina has a crew of 64. 'Malaspina, numbered A-31, was built by Bázan in San Fernando (Cádiz) and delivered to the navy in 1975.

The boat also belongs to the maritime action force and its centre of operations is the navy's hydrographic institute in Cádiz.

Its primary missions are hydrographic surveys, oceanographic works and sub aquatic explorations.

Since its commissioning, the Malaspina has sailed more than 1,800,000 nautical miles acquiring data from along the Spanish coast.

She has a crew of 65.

Friday (October