Re-setting the sails
After 88 years, the historic four-masted barque "Peking" has returned to its home port Hamburg. The vessel, launched in 1911, is one of the so-called "Flying P-Liners" mainly used in the saltpetre trade with South America, making 34 trips around the legendary Cape Horn in her time.
The former sailing cargo ship recently left the shipyard “Peters Werft”, where it was successfully restored on behalf of the Hamburg Maritime Foundation (Stiftung Hamburg Maritim).
At her interim berth at Bremerkai, the Peking will be converted into the main attraction of the future German Port Museum by the Hamburg Historical Museums Foundation (Stiftung Historische Museen Hamburg) from summer 2021 onwards.
Today, a total of eleven liner services connect Hamburg with South America, four of which regularly call at the ports of Arica, Iquique, Puerto Angamos, San Antonio and Valparaiso in Chile. (mw)