For the first time in 50 years, a Canadian warship is scheduled to pay a visit to Cuba.

HMCS Fredericton departed for the Caribbean island on Friday. The ship had been taking part of a training exercise off the coast of Florida that wrapped up this week.

The Royal Canadian Navy frigate is expected to visit Havana and several other ports in the region, including Cartagena, Colombia — and Veracruz, Mexico.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelled to Cuba for a brief visit earlier this week — a trip his father Pierre Trudeau made 40 years earlier.