One of the few tall ships that still navigate the globe will sail by Fort McHenry before making a dramatic entrance and docking in the Inner Harbor next month.

BAP Unión, a Peruvian naval vessel, is scheduled to arrive in Baltimore on March 2 and remain docked until March 5. The boat is scheduled to pass Fort McHenry at 9 a.m. and reach its destination and berth in the Inner Harbor at 11 a.m., according to PromPeru, the country’s tourism agency.

Last summer, an Argentinian tall ship visited Baltimore and offered free deck tours. And in September 2022, a Danish ship visiting Baltimore collided with a U.S. Navy vessel in the harbor — the Danish vessel, a tall ship, was being pulled by a tugboat at the time.

The BAP Unión in 2017. (Ministerio de Defensa del Perú/via Flickr)

The BAP Unión is a training ship, commissioned in 2016. It’s 378 feet long and 175 feet tall (that’s about three-fifths as tall as the Statue of Liberty), according to PromPeru. The vessel’s bronze figurehead is made by the Peruvian sculptor Pilar Martínez Woodman and depicts an Inca emperor. It has a crew of about 250 and sails at 12 knots, which is just under 14 mph.

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It has four large masts and flies a massive Peruvian flag. While it’s in Baltimore, it will be open to the public, with free admission:

  • March 2, 1 to 6 p.m.
  • March 3, 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  • March 4, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
  • March 5, 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

This story has been updated to reflect the BAP Unión is 115 meters long.