The Belem is a
three-masted barque from France.
Construction year: 1896.Shipbuilding: Dubigeon, Nantes.
Home Port: Nantes. Flag : France.
She was originally a cargo ship, transporting sugar from the West
Indies, and cocoa and coffee from Brazil and French Guiana to
Nantes, France. By chance she escaped the eruption of the Mount
Pelée in Saint-Pierre de la Martinique on 8 May 1902. She was
sold in 1914 to the Duke of Westminster, who converted her to his
private luxurious pleasure yacht, complete with auxiliary engine. In
1922 she became the property of the beer baron Sir Arthur Ernest
Guinness, who renamed her the Phantom II.
In 1951 she was sold to the Venezian count
Vittorio Cini, who named her the Giorgio Cini after his son, who
had died in a plane crash near Cannes on 31 August 1949 . She was
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 Italian
carabinieri attempted to restore her to the original barque rig.
When this proved too expensive, she became the property of the
shipyard.
Finally, in January 1979, she came back to her home port, as the
Belem, flying the French flag. Fully restored to her original
condition, she began a new career as a sail training ship. |
