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France's Oldest Tall Ship Sails along Ireland's Atlantic Coast to Visit Galway Docks

2nd August 2024
The arrival of the impressive barque, Belém, makes for a majestic scene to Galway Docks, where the last French three-mast, sail-training tall ship is on a visit stretching beyond the August bank holiday. The vessel built in 1896, is very much a veteran, as not only is it the oldest three-mast tallship operating in Europe, but it is also the oldest such ship in the world still sailing.
The arrival of the impressive barque, Belém, makes for a majestic scene to Galway Docks, where the last French three-mast, sail-training tall ship is on a visit stretching beyond the August bank holiday. The vessel built in 1896, is very much a veteran, as not only is it the oldest three-mast tallship operating in Europe, but it is also the oldest such ship in the world still sailing. Credit: Gerry Jackson / The Days of the MV Naomh Éanna-facebook

Adding to the atmosphere in Galway Harbour this August bank holiday weekend is the impressive famous French tallship, the three mast training barque Belém built almost 130 years ago, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The black and white hulled trainee barque is on tour of Irish ports to include the Port of Galway, where in Dun Aengus Dock yesterday afternoon the 58m length overall (LOA) tallship came alongside Mulvoy Quay. On board is a permanent crew of 16 and up to 48 trainees who are having time in port for both rest and recreation in the City of the Tribes.

The tallship is operated by The Caisse d’Epargne Fondation Belém (Belem Foundation), a Paris-based non-profit organisation that provides sailing training ships where the public can sail on a tallship of the ‘Belle Epoque’ era. A period in which sailing merchant ships were slowly displaced by steamships. The barque is the last 19th century French tallship in operation and has been recognized as an historic monument among the nation's cultural assets.

Belem’s merchant ship role saw the transport of various cargoes across the Atlantic, notably spices, and sugar from the West Indies, as well as cocoa and coffee from its Brazilian namesake port of Belém do Pará and French Guiana to Nantes, where the grand old lady of the sea, was built for a French shipowner at Dubigeon shipyards on the Loire on 10 June, 1896. This was the same year the first edition of the modern Olympic Games was held in Athens.

According to Christelle Hug de Larauze, General Delegate of the Belem Foundation, "The Belem is the oldest ship in the world to be registered by Bureau Veritas".

With a ship of such age and so much history, the French are proud of having the oldest European ship and the oldest three-mast in the world still sailing, according to its captain, Aymeric Gibet.

Another accolade to add took place in May, as Belem had the honour of carrying the Olympic Torch from Athens, Greece, to Marseilles in advance of the Paris Games, whose impressive river Seine based parade of athletes on a flotilla took place a week ago.

This river spectacle involved 85 vessels of various types and sizes, age, and design, all adding to the spectacle, and likewise to another, when Belem recently attended the Maritime Festival in Douarnenez, Brittany, during the 'Grande Parade' of Sail.

Prior to Belem’s visit to Galway, which last took place in 2017, the class ‘A’ tallship, took a leisurely sail along the rugged Atlantic west coast, having also visited Cork city quays last weekend. Since then, Afloat tracked the barque to outside the mouth of Dingle Harbour, Co. Kerry, and it is noted it was also off the Aran Islands, among them Inishmore, the largest of the archipelago.

Among the previous owners of the Belem was beer baron Sir Arthur Ernest Guinness, when the barque renamed Fantôme II was where he and his family made a world cruise a century ago that ended in 1924, the last time France held the Olympics.

On this current call to Galway as Afloat reported, is trainee Graham O'Donnell, whose great-grandfather was chief engineer, who exactly 100 years ago was on board the Fantôme II during its world cruise with the Guinness family.

They had the comfort of more luxurious cabin quarters, as the merchant cargo ship was transformed into a private yacht by its previous owner, a British aristocrat, the second Duke of Westminster.

Among the works included the centerpiece of the luxury yacht, a double-spiral staircase, and the majestic main deck house lined with Cuban mahogany, dating from 1914, which are still visible on board. Along with adding a balustrade at the poop deck. 

Since its launch on the Loire, surprisingly, Belem has only had three names and four owners in that long timeframe, as Afloat previously reported.

The barque is to remain in Galway beyond the bank holiday Monday as it is scheduled to depart three days later on 8 August when bound for Belfast.

Published in Galway Harbour
Jehan Ashmore

About The Author

Jehan Ashmore

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Jehan Ashmore is a marine correspondent, researcher and photographer, specialising in Irish ports, shipping and the ferry sector serving the UK and directly to mainland Europe. Jehan also occasionally writes a column, 'Maritime' Dalkey for the (Dalkey Community Council Newsletter) in addition to contributing to UK marine periodicals. 

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Galway Port & Harbour

Galway Bay is a large bay on the west coast of Ireland, between County Galway in the province of Connacht to the north and the Burren in County Clare in the province of Munster to the south. Galway city and port is located on the northeast side of the bay. The bay is about 50 kilometres (31 miles) long and from 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) to 30 kilometres (19 miles) in breadth.

The Aran Islands are to the west across the entrance and there are numerous small islands within the bay.

Galway Port FAQs

Galway was founded in the 13th century by the de Burgo family, and became an important seaport with sailing ships bearing wine imports and exports of fish, hides and wool.

Not as old as previously thought. Galway bay was once a series of lagoons, known as Loch Lurgan, plied by people in log canoes. Ancient tree stumps exposed by storms in 2010 have been dated back about 7,500 years.

It is about 660,000 tonnes as it is a tidal port.

Capt Brian Sheridan, who succeeded his late father, Capt Frank Sheridan

The dock gates open approximately two hours before high water and close at high water subject to ship movements on each tide.

The typical ship sizes are in the region of 4,000 to 6,000 tonnes

Turbines for about 14 wind projects have been imported in recent years, but the tonnage of these cargoes is light. A European industry report calculates that each turbine generates €10 million in locally generated revenue during construction and logistics/transport.

Yes, Iceland has selected Galway as European landing location for international telecommunications cables. Farice, a company wholly owned by the Icelandic Government, currently owns and operates two submarine cables linking Iceland to Northern Europe.

It is "very much a live project", Harbourmaster Capt Sheridan says, and the Port of Galway board is "awaiting the outcome of a Bord Pleanála determination", he says.

90% of the scrap steel is exported to Spain with the balance being shipped to Portugal. Since the pandemic, scrap steel is shipped to the Liverpool where it is either transhipped to larger ships bound for China.

It might look like silage, but in fact, its bales domestic and municipal waste, exported to Denmark where the waste is incinerated, and the heat is used in district heating of homes and schools. It is called RDF or Refuse Derived Fuel and has been exported out of Galway since 2013.

The new ferry is arriving at Galway Bay onboard the cargo ship SVENJA. The vessel is currently on passage to Belem, Brazil before making her way across the Atlantic to Galway.

Two Volvo round world races have selected Galway for the prestigious yacht race route. Some 10,000 people welcomed the boats in during its first stopover in 2009, when a festival was marked by stunning weather. It was also selected for the race finish in 2012. The Volvo has changed its name and is now known as the "Ocean Race". Capt Sheridan says that once port expansion and the re-urbanisation of the docklands is complete, the port will welcome the "ocean race, Clipper race, Tall Ships race, Small Ships Regatta and maybe the America's Cup right into the city centre...".

The pandemic was the reason why Seafest did not go ahead in Cork in 2020. Galway will welcome Seafest back after it calls to Waterford and Limerick, thus having been to all the Port cities.

© Afloat 2020