Magellan Straits: cruising over the edge of the world
Portuguese Navigator Ferdinand Magellan was serving the Spanish when he set off with 5 ships to reach the Spice Islands of Indonesia via South America. The expedition voyage started in Valladolid Spain on March 22, 1518. The 5 ships sail and departed from Sanlúcar de Barrameda on Sept 20,
1519. The vessels were named La Trinidad, La San Antonio, La Concepción, La Victoria and La Santiago. The ships entered the strait on Nov 1, 1520. The strait was originally named Estrecho de Todos los Santos (Strait of All Saints). Other alternative names were Patagonian Strait and Victoria Strait. Since 1527, it was called Estrecho de Magallanes. Magellan discovered the tortuous channel but he died later in the voyage and only one ship, La Victoria, survived the journey back home with 18 of the original 270 crew via the Cape of Good Hope to Spain. Occurred in 1520, it was the first European led expedition to circumnavigate the globe. This cinematic channel, earned the nickname Dragon’s Tail among sailors for its tortuous path, linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and cuts between the mainland tip of South America and Tierra del Fuego Island. All 560 kilometers in length and up to 32 kilometers in width, it was the passage of choice for seafaring transport between these two oceans until the Panama Canal shortened the distance by 8 thousand miles in 1914. The Strait, in it whole length, belongs to the Republic of Chile and it is part of the XII Region of Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica (Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena). Its eastern access is surrounded by Argentinean waters. The strait's northwest part is similar to the Alaska's Inside Passage. The strait's western part goes northwest from Magdalena Channel's northern end to the Pacific Ocean. Along with the Beagle Channel, it was one of two protected channels for sailing between the oceans. The third alternative was the notoriously turbulent open ocean Drake Passage beyond Cape Horn. All the shipping traffic between mainland Chile and Argentina runs through the Magellan Strait. Under the 1984's Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Argentina and Chile, marine vessels including cruise
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