April 27, 2012 > Voyages on the NRP Sagres Voyages on the NRP Sagres Submitted By Arin-Marie Westendorf The Macau Cultural Center and International Institute of Macau will host the grand opening of their new facility in the historic Niles District of Fremont with a photo exhibition of "Voyages on the NRP Sagres" Sunday, May 6. This nonprofit group, dedicated to preserving the rich history of Macau, is inviting the community to view 50 photographs by journalist and photographer Joaquim Magalhaes de Castro, focused on 40 days he spent aboard the NRP Sagres, a school-ship under the Portuguese flag. This three-masted "tall ship" was originally built for the German Navy in 1937, confiscated by the United States following WWII then sold to Brazil in 1948. In service as school-ship Guanabara with the Brazilian Navy, she was finally sold to the Portuguese Navy in 1961. The third ship in the Portuguese Navy to carry the name, Sagres remains in service to this day. Macau-based Portuguese writer Magalhaes de Castro is the author of numerous books and a video documentary about his travels in Tibet, Nepal and northeast India. He participated in Sagres' voyage from Goa to Alexandria then Lisbon and chronicled the intensive daily work of 146 men as they faced the threat of Somali pirates in the middle of the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden, waters of the Red Sea, and a protracted storm in the Mediterranean that produced 12 meter high waves and winds raging up to 120 km/hr. This exhibition, accompanied by a video, will reveal a unique experience aboard an historic sailing ship, commemorating 50 years of service by the NRP Sagres as a school-ship under the Portuguese flag. NRP Sagres has visited Macau on four separate occasions: January 1979, December 1983, August and November 1993. Voyages of NRP Sagres Sunday, May 6 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. Macau Center 109 J Street, Fremont (Niles District) (510) 789-9216