Originally she was a German lightship, named Senator Brockes and built in 1911 at the H.C. Stülcken & Sohn shipyard in Hamburg, Germany.

Europa cruises worldwide and accepts paying voyage crew (trainees) for short or long trip segments, including ocean crossings, Sail Training Association races, and annual voyages to Antarctica, and between South Georgia, Tristan da Cunha, and Cape Town.

In 2010 she participated in Velas Sudamerica 2010, an historical Latin American tour by eleven tall ships to celebrate the bicentennial of the first national governments of Argentina and Chile.

From New Zealand, the ship sailed an official Cape Horn rounding (October - December 2013).

On 20 May 2023, Europa fell over during an attempt to transfer the steel-hulled barque back into the water from drydock at a Cape Town ship repair facility.