She is named after Simón Bolívar, the liberator of Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela.

She is one of four similar barques built as sail training vessels for Latin American navies; her half-sisters are the Mexican Cuauhtémoc, the Colombian Gloria and the Ecuadoran Guayas.

[4] From 2002 until 2008 she was in refit at Diques y Astilleros Nacionales Compañía Anónima state shipyard in Puerto Cabello.

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, Venezuela, Colombia, Chile and Mexico.

[5] She is classified as a Class A Tall Ship by the International Sail Training Association and has the MMSI number 735059037.