off the coast of Greece, the “Belem” and dolphins in Olympic form – Libération

2024-05-03 14:16:07

Leaving Athens at the end of April, the legendary three-masted ship carrying the Olympic flame is due to arrive in Marseille on Wednesday May 8. Well anchored in the 21st century, its crew recounts the journey on social networks with many images.

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Like an escort, a greeting. Departing Athens on Saturday April 27, the Belem, a flagship of French maritime heritage, is sailing in the Mediterranean with a distinguished passenger on board: the Olympic flame of the Paris 2024 Games.

After passing the high walls of the Corinth Canal – cliffs more than 50 meters high dug by man – the 58 meter long three-masted ship continued its route in the Mediterranean, direction Marseille where he is due to arrive with great fanfare on Wednesday May 8. On Sunday, the ship, some of whose sails have the names of birds (parrots), traveled a stretch with dolphins, swimming under its bow and along its sides, in a graceful choreography, shared by the crew. on social networks.

The Belem made 33 commercial campaigns until 1914, carrying goods from Brazil, Guyana and the West Indies in its steel hull. Victim of competition from steamboats, it was saved from abandonment by the Duke of Westminster who transformed it into a yacht. Then sold in 1921 to the brewer Arthur Ernest Guinness, the ship docked in Venice in 1952 to become a training ship, before being bought in 1979 by the Caisse d’Epargne, which created the Belem Foundation a year later to launch its restoration. .

Since its embarkation in Piraeus, the Olympic flame, stored most of the time in the large roof of the boat, has wandered almost everywhere in the ship under the eye of its guards, but to avoid any risk of fire, the The flame is not left in the open air during the twelve days of the crossing.