Tenacious, the largest wooden tall ship built in Britain in the past 100 years, is in the country, causing excitement among Fijians.

The 586-ton Tenacious, which arrived here from New Zealand last Friday, was sailed by a permanent crew made up of professional seafarers and 40 voyage crew.

School students visited the ship berthed at the Port of Suva.

For some of the students, the brief tour opened their minds to the possibilities of an adventure at sea.

The ship has the history of being the largest wooden tall ship to be built in Britain, and the impressive 65-metre barque was designed in the early 1990s and launched in 2000.

Tenacious and her smaller sister ship Lord Nelson are the only two of their kind in the world that have been designed and built to enable people of all physical abilities to sail side by side on equal terms.

The crew members were in Fiji to learn and experience the variety of marine life as they voyaged across the South Pacific Ocean and also to learn new skills like celestial navigation.

Tenacious is expected to leave Suva for Cairns, Australia, on September 23.