During restoration work on the former Flying P-Liner "Peking", shipyard employees may not have discovered any treasure, but they did make a surprising find: during trial openings of the steel hull, they came across the cast-iron table legs of the original captain's table in the ship's ballast.
These are apparently part of the loose ballast that used to be common on board, which was later replaced by solid ballast made of cement mortar. According to the Hamburg Maritime Foundation, owner of the "Peking", heavy objects were used, preferably cast-iron components. In other words, metal parts that were found on board at the time and were not necessarily needed elsewhere were transported into the ship's bilge and covered with cement.
The Hamburg Maritime Foundation describes the find as "great luck" for the foundation. Once disposed of as waste in the concrete, they are now marvellous restoration pieces. If the test drillings on the hull had been carried out at a different location, the unique artefacts would never have come to light.
In the summer of 2017, the "Peking" was transported from New York to the Elbe in a highly publicised transfer by dock ship to be restored at the Peters shipyard in Wewelsfleth and then given a new home as a museum ship in the port of Hamburg.
During the four-master's transfer voyage, pictures were taken that can now be seen in the first Beijing calendar for 2018: "Photographers accompanied the ship on its long journey across the Atlantic and made their photos available. They captured scenes that will never be repeated. The present calendar is based on this unique collection," says the Hamburg Maritime Foundation.
Numerous photographs show the stations of the "Peking" on its journey from New York to Wewelsfleth: at Pier 16 in Manhattan, in the dock ship across the Atlantic, the arrival in Wewelsfleth and finally in the dock at Peters Werft. The calendar measures 48.5 cm x 33.5 centimetres and has a spiral binding. It is available from the Hamburg Maritime Foundation for 19.90 euros.
On the pages of the Hamburg Maritime Foundation a video report on the discovery of the table legs will be available soon.
