Santa Maria Manuela
Santa Maria Manuela is a Portuguese four-masted schooner. Originally a fishing ship of the Portuguese White Fleet, Santa Maria Manuela is now used as sea training and cruise ship, belonging to Grupo Jerónimo Martins. It is the sister ship of the Portuguese Navy's Creoula.
Santa Maria Manuela with full sail | |
History | |
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Name: | Santa Maria Manuela |
Builder: | CUF Shipyards, Lisbon |
Launched: | 1937 |
Homeport: | Aveiro |
Identification: |
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Status: | Training ship |
General characteristics | |
Type: | Schooner |
Displacement: |
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Length: | |
Beam: | 9.9 m (32 ft 6 in) |
Height: | of masts, 36 m (118 ft 1 in) |
Draft: | 5.94 m (19 ft 6 in) |
Propulsion: | Sails / MTU 8-cylinder engine, 500 cv |
History
Santa Maria Manuela was built in the CUF shipyards at Lisbon in 1937, as a lugre bacalhoeiro (codfish fishing schooner). The similar Creoula was built in the same shipyards at the same time. Another similar and still existent ship, Argus was built in 1938 by the shipyard De Haan & Oerlemans, Heusden, Holland.
Since its building and until the late 1980s, Santa Maria Manuela was employed in the codfish fishing in the seas of Newfoundland and Greenland, being one of the ships of the White Fleet (as the Portuguese fishing fleet was known in Newfoundland, because of the white color of most of their ships).
The ship was owned by Empresa de Pesca de Viana fishing company, until 1963, when it was sold to Empresa de Pesca Ribau. During the 1960s, Santa Maria Manuela has undergone several modifications and technological improvements in order to be able to continue in fishing activity. Finally in 1993, definitely been considered obsolete, the ship was partially demolished, only her hull being preserved.
In 2007, Pascoal S.A. bought the remainings of the ship and started a long and well documented restoration process in the Aveiro shipyards, returning it to its original state in 2010.[1]
She took part in the Fete-Maritime-de-Brest-2016 (Tall ships Race) on 19 July 2016.
Sea training and cruise ship
Occasional day cruises are offered for about 50 to 65 paying guests.[2]
References
- Kim Meyer: Open Ship: An Bord bei Portugiesen. In: Lübecker Nachrichten may, 12 2016, page 13.
- Segelschulschiff Santa Maria Manuela erstmals in Travemünde. In: Der Reporter, may, 11 2016, page 32.