New London — Though it's being billed as a goodwill cruise, the visit by the Mexican Navy's training ship ARM Cuauhtémoc to several U.S. ports, including a five-day visit here, also highlights the close ties between the U.S. and Mexico, officials remarked Monday at a brief welcoming ceremony at City Pier.

"The United States and Mexico need to work together on the eastern Pacific and in the Caribbean as we combat transnational organized crime and drug trafficking on the high seas," said Rear Adm. James Rendon, superintendent at the Coast Guard Academy.

The 81 cadets from the Mexican naval academy, called the Heroica Escuela Naval Militar, on board the Cuauhtémoc will visit with their counterparts at the academy, where athletic and social events are planned. Twenty-two international cadets are attending the academy, four of whom are from Mexico, the largest group from any country.

The ship, with 250-plus crew members on board, arrived in the area Saturday from Baltimore. It's the Cuauhtémoc's second visit to New London; its first was in 2004 for New London's annual SailFest celebration.

As the Cuauhtémoc sailed into City Pier playing traditional Mexican music, Mexican cadets, donning black-and-white striped long-sleeved tops with black bottoms, stood in formation on the ship's yards. Before pulling into City Pier, the ship exchanged a traditional 21-gun salute with the mobile saluting battery from the Naval Submarine Base, which was positioned at Fort Trumbull.

About 20 members of the Mexican Consulate in New York City, which has jurisdiction over New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, were at the ceremony, as well as local Coast Guard and Navy officials.

"This event puts the spotlight on the fact that the United States and Mexico are very strong allies. We have so much in common in terms of the joint work that we do in terms of military to military relationships as well as making the North American economy so strong," said U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District.

It's important for the community and the country at large, Courtney said, "to remember that Mexico and the U.S. have so much in common and we'll succeed together if we keep focused on that important fact."

Mexican Naval Attaché Vice Adm. Francisco Pérez Rico said the trip was a way to "further strengthen ties that unite us with this country."

But ultimately, the trip is about "showing people around the world who we really are," said Capt. Pedro Mata Cervantes, Cuauhtémoc's commanding officer.

The crew, which Cervantes called "multicultural," hails from all over Mexico.

Cuauhtémoc, which means "swooping eagle," is "very, very similar" to the Coast Guard barque Eagle, which will arrive in New London on Thursday, Cervantes said. Like the Eagle, the Cuauhtémoc serves as a training platform for cadets, who learn the fundamentals of sailing. The Cuauhtémoc is a hybrid sail-and-diesel vessel.  

"The ship was built with one very important mission and that is to exalt the sailor spirit of the cadets," Cervantes said. "They are here for learning to navigate by sails, but also .... astrological navigation and with the magnetic compass."

The Mexican Navy's mission is likened to that of the U.S. Coast Guard. Both interdict transnational threats, and play a crucial role in protecting the global supply chain by protecting ports and critical infrastructure and respond to natural disasters.

"We have been developing teamwork since maybe 15 years ago," said Cervantes.

The services have also participated in training exercises together. Cervantes went through the Coast Guard's International Maritime Officers School in Yorktown, Va., where he said he learned about crisis management, search-and-rescue planning and execution, and international leadership and management.

The U.S. and Mexico share hundreds of miles of maritime border in the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, and work closely in search-and-rescue cases, Cervantes said.

The ship, which is named after the last Aztec emperor, will next head to Halifax, Nova Scotia

j.bergman@theday.com