 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Belem" ship – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(July 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
.jpg) Belem moored atOstend, Belgium | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name |
|
| Namesake | Belém,Brazil |
| Builder | Chantiers Dubigeon,Nantes (Chantenay-sur-Loire) |
| Launched | 10 June 1896 |
| Maiden voyage | 31 July 1896 toMontevideo andBelém, Brazil |
| Homeport | Nantes |
| Identification | |
| Status | Active |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage |
|
| Displacement | 750 tons |
| Length | |
| Beam | 8.8 m (28 ft 10 in) |
| Draught | 3.6 m (11 ft 10 in) |
| Sail plan | Barque |
| Endurance | 2 xdiesel engines |
Belem is a three-mastedbarque fromFrance.
She made her maiden voyage as a cargo ship in 1896, transporting sugar from theWest Indies, cocoa, and coffee fromBrazil andFrench Guiana toNantes, France.
Belem escapedthe eruption ofMount Pelée inSaint-Pierre, Martinique, on 8 May 1902. On arriving at Saint Pierre ahead of the eruption, Captain Julien Chauvelon found thatroadsteads were full of vessels. With no place to anchor the ship Chauvelon angrily decided to anchor some miles further away off a beach, which provided shelter when the volcano erupted.
She was sold in 1914 toHugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster, who converted her to his private luxurious pleasure yacht, complete with two auxiliary Bolinder Diesel engines of 300 HP each.
In 1922 she became the property of SirErnest Guinness, of theGuinness family, who renamed her theFantôme II and revised the rig from a square rigger.[1][2] Guinness was Rear Commodore of theRoyal St. George Yacht Club, inKingstown, Ireland, from 1921 to 1939. He was Vice Commodore from 1940 to 1948. He took theFântome II on a cruise in 1923 with his daughtersAileen, Maureen, and Oonagh.[3] They sailed around the world via thePanama andSuez Canals including a visit toSpitsbergen. During her approach toYokohama harbour while sailing the Pacific Ocean the barque managed to escape another catastrophe - an earthquake which destroyed the harbour and parts of Yokohama city. Guinness died in 1949. TheFântome II was moored in the roads ofCowes,Isle of Wight.
In 1951 she was sold to the industrialistVittorio Cini, who named her theGiorgio Cini after his son, who had died in a plane crash nearCannes on 31 August 1949 . She was rigged to abarkentine and used as a sail training ship until 1965, when she was considered too old for further use and was moored at the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore,Venice.
In 1972 the Italiancarabinieri attempted to restore her to the original barque rig. When this proved too expensive, she became the property of the shipyard. In 1976 the ship was re-rigged to a barque.
Finally, in January 1979, she came back to her home port as theBelem under tow by a French seagoing tug, flying the French flag after 65 years. Fully restored to her original condition, she began a new career as a sail training ship.
On 8 and 9 May 2024, she carried the Olympic flame for the upcoming2024 Summer Olympics torch relay by sailing fromAthens, Greece toMarseille.[4]
In August 2025, she is the flagship ofHanse Sail.[5]
406 tons and 51 m of length
Masting - rigging
Sails
Propulsion and equipment
Performance
Crewmen
