Before resuming its navigations in the spring of 2023, the belem going to spend a studious winter. The famous three-master built in Nantes in 1896 must indeed undergo a heavy restoration operation: the complete replacement of the part of the hull located under the engine hold. An operation “never carried out on such an old ship”, says its owner, the Caisse d’Epargne Belem Foundation. This delicate project is carried out in dry dock in Saint-Nazaire.
“The constituent plates of the hull of the belem, like all steel hulls, naturally suffer losses in thickness. In particular, the lowest area of the ship, located under the engine hold, a waste water receptacle, suffered from double corrosion, internal and external. Its advanced wear could stop the navigation of the three-master if nothing was done to restore it”, explains the Foundation.
Six months of construction
The work should last about six months. The cost of the project is estimated at 1.7 million euros, mainly financed by the Fondation Caisse d’Epargne Belem. One call for donations was launched.
If all goes as planned, the belem will be able set sail again at the beginning of June for a first navigation between Nantes and Le Havre. The rest of the 2023 schedule will send him to the Atlantic coast, Spain and Portugal, then to the Mediterranean until October.
Listed as a historical monument, the belem, 58 meters long, was a merchant ship, then a luxury yacht, before being operated as a training ship open to all for nearly 40 years. He travels with 16 crew members from the merchant navy.