Magellan-Elcano circumnavigation

In 1519 a Spanish fleet of five vessels, under the command of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, set sail from Seville in search of a route across the Pacific Ocean to East Asia. Magellan was killed in a battle during the voyage, leaving Spanish navigator Juan Sebastian Elcano and 18 surviving crew to become the first to circumnavigate the globe in a single expedition. Their expedition finally returned home to Spain in 1522

Magellan’s arrival in the Philippine Archipelago on March 15, 1521 was the first encounter between Spaniards and the people of the Philippines

The tornaviaje discovery

Between 1526 and 1540, Spain sent two more expeditions to the Philippines, but neither completed the return journey to the Americas. A fourth expedition, led by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, arrived in the Philippines in 1565. While many of the crew settled on the islands, one sailor named Andres de Urdaneta had a very important job to do

An Augustinian friar, sailor and author, Urdaneta would become one of the Pacific Ocean’s most knowledgeable European navigators. He sailed north, crossing the Pacific near 40°N latitude, arrived in Acapulco 130 days later from Cebu. From there, he discovered a return maritime route to the Americas and, more significantly, kept records and navigation charts of his odyssey

Because of his efforts, the world’s longest maritime route was established. It would endure for 250 years

The round trip

Manila was ideally located for a major trading port of Chinese goods, such as silk and tea –which were highly coveted in Europe and America. Keeping pace with the trade boom, Manila’s Chinese community grew exponentially. And as traders hustled, sailors got much-needed rest before the arduous journey to Acapulco, Mexico, where Spanish galleons traded their exotic goods for silver coins

SHIPPING COMPLETION TIME

The longest regular shipping line: 250 years

In terms of operating years and distances covered, the tornaviaje was the longest regular shipping line in history. This table estimates the number of ships that made the voyage and whether they survived