HISTORY
The most dangerous place in maritime history is the alternative to the Panama Canal: it has become a graveyard for ships
The route of Cape Horn has witnessed numerous shipwrecks in the surrounding waters.
The training ship Juan Sebastián de Elcano (A-71) has set out to celebrate its ninetieth anniversary by crossing, for the first time in history, one of the most challenging and dangerous maritime passages: Cape Horn, a witness to hundreds of shipwrecks and disappearances in its surrounding waters.
“The challenge is no small feat,” says Captain Ignacio Paz, the current commander of the vessel, “as the voyage will take place during the austral winter, when weather conditions are far from favorable, and the ship’s safety must not be compromised.”
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One of the greatest nautical challenges
South of Cape Horn, the last landmass before Antarctica, the Earth’s two largest oceans, the Pacific and the Atlantic, converge. In stormy weather, when the waters are rough, the wind and waves batter ships mercilessly, creating an all-out battle against the forces of nature. Sailing in Cape Horn’s waters is considered one of the greatest nautical challenges. Its extreme southern latitude (56°S) and the geography beyond it impose exceptional and highly dangerous conditions for navigation.
The winds in this strait are powerful gales that blow from west to east below 40°S, and sailors have given them several names. First come the “Roaring Forties,” followed by the “Furious Fifties” and the even more violent “Screaming Sixties.” Their force is extreme due to the natural funneling effect of the Drake Passage between the Andes and the Antarctic Peninsula.
The Unique Drake passage
The formidable Drake Passage, also known as the Mar de Hoces, was first discovered by Francisco de Hoces in 1525 when his ship was dragged southward by a powerful storm. According to maritime tradition, any sailor who crosses the Drake is granted the right to wear a gold earring in their left ear and to urinate against the wind.
Throughout history, countless explorers and sailors have braved the treacherous Patagonian channels, risking their lives with every unfurling of the sails.
One of these stories is that of sailor Willem Schouten, who arrived at this storm-swept island in 1616. The captain and his crew ended up in this region because they wanted to outpace the Dutch East Indies ships, which relied on the only known routes to reach Asian destinations: the Strait of Magellan and the Cape of Good Hope.
The Dutch navigator had been following a lead for several years. In 1578, during his circumnavigation of the globe, Francis Drake—operating under a privateering commission from Queen Elizabeth I of England to attack the Spanish fleet—sailed through the Strait of Magellan into the Pacific Ocean. A violent storm dragged him further south, where he discovered that Tierra del Fuego was not a continent, but an island. This proved the existence of an alternative route.
Seizing a rare moment of calm between sea and sky, Schouten rounded the cape, naming it Hoorn after his hometown.
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*This article was written in Spanish and translated with the help of AI.
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