Merchant ship, yacht and training ship: the three lives of the Belem
The Belem has sailed many seas and has experienced even more adventures. She is one of the oldest ships in her class, and that alone is quite a feat considering how many times she came close to disaster.
During its maiden voyage to Belem, the Brazilian port city that gives its name to this iconic sailboat, a fire broke out on board. Luckily, after undergoing repairs in France, she was able to get back on track.
After several transatlantic voyages transporting cocoa, rum and sugar to France, the Belem managed to survive another tragedy: the eruption of Mount Pelée in 1902.
The town of Saint-Pierre in Martinique was destroyed and more than 30,000 people lost their lives in the disaster, but the Belem managed to escape without damage.
The day before, due to lack of space in the port, the ship docked in another bay, safely away from the city.
However, the Belem could do nothing against the rise of steamships. Gradually, the commercial use of her for the transport of goods began to decline and in 1914 she was sold to the Duke of Westminster.
The Belem was converted into a yacht and a few years later was acquired by an Irish engineer and brewer, Sir Arthur Ernest Guinness, who changed the name of the sailboat to Fantôme II.
After a trip around the world, a few decades later the ship changed owners again; This time, she was sold to an Italian charity, and was renamed in her honor as Giorgio Cini.
The ship, which was built in a Nantes shipyard, was transformed into a training ship, and for the next 15 years it sailed the Mediterranean Sea, until it was again affected by technological advances.
By the 1960s, considered too old and small, the Giorgio Cini did not leave the port. And she was delivered to the carabinieri (the Italian police) to use in their training. When they decided that it was no longer useful for that either, it was sold to a shipyard in Venice for the symbolic price of one lira (around €0.01).
However, as restoration costs rose, the boat was back on the market.
