PEKING At Bremen Quai

The exhibition on the bridge deck of the PEKING is dedicated to the eventful history of this beloved ship, presented through key dates and exhibits. A large display wall will illustrate the ship’s economic and historical background using the products that were transported between Chile and Germany on the PEKING. At other stations, a comparison of the former saltpeter ports and today’s high-tech port facilities provides important insights into the development of port logistics.

Places, voyages, port worlds

Built at the Hamburg Blohm&Voss shipyard in 1911 for the F. Laeisz shipping company, the PEKING transported general and bulk cargo as well as saltpeter between Hamburg and Chile until 1932. Saltpeter, also known as “white gold,” was an essential raw material at the beginning of the 20th century and was required for the production of fertilizers, explosives, and dyes. The only major natural deposits of the material were located in the Atacama Desert in Chile. F. Laeisz recognized the profit potential of the saltpeter boom early on. It built what were called the Flying P-Liners – ships famed for their reliability, all-weather speed, and elegant design. All of the vessels’ names began with “P,” e.g. PEKING, PASSAT, and PAMIR, and they were painted in the company colors of black, white, and red. This naming tradition began with the company’s first barque, the PUDEL, inspired by the shipowner’s wife Sophie Laeisz’s nickname.

Laeisz optimized not only sea transport, but also the infrastructure in Chile, including improved loading points and railway lines, which reduced laytimes. The company still exists today. In addition to transporting cars, Laeisz is also continuing the success story of the “Flying-P-Liner” era with gas tankers for ammonia transport.

Saltpeter was mined in more than 100 mines in Chile, mainly by British and German companies such as Fölsch & Martin, Sloman, and Gildemeister. Their oficinas, or offices, were located in isolated desert settlements comprising both production facilities and housing. Working conditions for the roughly 70,000 migrant laborers, most of whom were indigenous, were extremely harsh, with toxic dust, heat, and child labor from the age of eight. In 1907, thousands of workers were killed by the military at the Santa Maria School when a strike escalated in Iquique; up to 3,600 lives were lost in what became known as the Iquique Massacre.

Dimensions of the PEKING

Built in 1911, the PEKING is a four-masted barque and an ideal heavy-weather sailor, well suited to the challenging voyage around Cape Horn. It features a steel hull and three superstructures – forecastle, bridge house, and poop deck – which, for the first time, spanned the full width of the ship and were connected by eleven gangways. Representing the pinnacle of sailing cargo ships, the PEKING was equipped with innovations such as brace and halyard winches as well as gang capstans. Its high speed and the fact that it could be sailed with a small crew made this type of ship the standard vessel for the outgoing saltpeter trade for both economic and technical reasons.