The flagship of the Ecuadorian Navy and Ecuador's travelling ambassador around the world, this impressive sailing ship built at Astilleros Celaya in Erandio, set sail from Bilbao on 23 July 1977 and returned to the city for the first time 47 years later. During its stay, between 23 and 26 August, it offered guided tours and many other activities on board, as well as a recital of Ecuadorian music on the esplanade, which was well attended by the public. This large vessel has an overall length, including bowsprit, of 78.40 metres and a beam of 10.60 metres. It has 23 sails and a crew of 154 people, all of them members of the Ecuadorian Navy.

In July, the museum ship Mater arrived at the Itsasmuseum dock with its Zero Zabor Uretan 2024 campaign with workshops, visits to the ship, films on board and many other activities. On the 4th of July a press conference was held on board the ship to announce the programme for the days it would remain in Bilbao, as well as its sailing route and stops at other points along the Basque coast during the summer. During the 5th and 6th of July, the Mater offered free guided tours and recycling and awareness workshops in collaboration with the museum, as well as a grand march of the giants Zabor and Bio. During their visit, the atrium of the museum hosted an exhibition with posters made by schoolchildren to answer the question: Nola handitu Bio eta txikitu Zabor? (How to make Bio bigger and Zabor smaller).

The Arctic Sunrise is an icebreaker that became part of the fleet of the NGO Greenpeace in 1995, which currently consists of three vessels, and which operates as a research and awareness vessel in different parts of the world. On 7, 8 and 9 June, the Arctic Sunrise called at the museum's dock with guided tours on board, workshops, awareness-raising days to publicise Greenpeace's different missions and the screening of the documentary Before You Eat, on fishing and human rights, in the museum's atrium.