What does a ship do inside one of the largest shopping malls in Asia?

- If it were not for Filipino seafarers, global commercial shipping would have stopped, and with it the entire global economy would have collapsed. Seafarers from the Philippine archipelago make up between 25% and 30% of ship crews around the world, from oil tankers and bulk ships, to cruise ships.

This is a statistic with deep historical roots extending back hundreds of years, dating back to the era of Spanish explorers and conquistadors, when the Philippine capital, Manila, became a center for trade routes that formed the beginnings of the global economy that we see today. Now, visitors to Manila can have an immersive experience learning about the driving force of that trade - the Manila galleon ships and the people who made up their crews - at the newly opened Museo del Galeon as part of the massive Mall of Asia complex on the edge of the South China Sea.

The museum is a quiet and unexpected escape from the hustle and bustle of the mall, which is considered one of the largest shopping and entertainment complexes in the Philippines, and perhaps in the entire world. You can enter it through the museum entrance on the ground floor, which is located a short walking distance from the mall’s band performances, to move from the hustle and bustle of noise to a quiet atmosphere, and take your mind back centuries.

As you ascend the escalator one floor from the ticket office, you'll find yourself looking up at the bow of the Galeon Espiritu Santo, a life-size model of a ship that sailed the Pacific Ocean between 1603 and 1618. The ship, 30 meters high and 40 meters long, stands under a towering, expansive roof filled with stars, replicating the scene its 200-person crew would have seen while crossing the Pacific Ocean on one of its ten voyages on the route between Manila and Acapulco (the Spanish commercial center on Mexico's Pacific coast).

There, the riches of Asia, including porcelain, silk, and spices, were exchanged for “New World” silver to be shipped west. Goods from Asia were transported on mule backs through Mexico to its Atlantic coast, and then loaded back onto ships to be transported to the markets and palaces of Europe.

The museum asserts: “This network is one of the oldest global trade networks in history.” An immersive experience. An immersive and interactive experience awaits visitors at the museum, as in addition to immersing themselves in a nighttime atmosphere simulating Pacific nights, their senses of touch and smell are stimulated.

A spice stand with six different stations invites visitors to smell the scents, allowing them to make connections between the fragrances emanating from small containers and foods and geographies across Asia. Upon boarding the ship itself, touch screens allow visitors to learn about how these ships navigated across the vast Pacific Ocean using the sun, stars, and primitive navigational tools.

The original Espirito Santo was built in Cavite, south of Manila, on a peninsula extending into Manila Bay, using hardwoods available on the island of Luzon. Studies indicate that it required two thousand trees to build one ship. 'Don't be afraid of the journey' The Galleon had between 50 and 400 people on board, depending on the size of the ship, at least at the beginning of the voyage.

During the galleon trade era, approximately two-thirds of the ship's crew were Filipinos or of Southeast Asian origin, filling the lower ranks, with Spaniards serving as officers. Filipinos have won praise for their outstanding seafaring skills.

Francisco Leandro de Viana, a Spanish prosecutor in Manila during that era, wrote: “There is no person in these islands who does not possess an amazing innate tendency toward the sea.” Crew members often paid a heavy price for their work, with sometimes only half of them surviving the arduous journey across the Pacific.

Today, between 400,000 and 500,000 Filipinos work as merchant seafarers, the largest number compared to any other country in the world, according to data from international and maritime labor organizations. The museum says they ensure that 90% of global trade continues to move.

The museum includes a board containing scraps of paper that allow current sailors, or those who aspire to enter this field, to leave messages expressing their passion for the sea and the heritage of their country. He wrote in one of the letters: “Do not fear the journey, do not fear the unknown waters.

Rather, fear that you will miss the opportunity to achieve what you could become.”