The Belem Foundation and The SeaCleaners, partners for the preservation of the oceans

Christelle de Larauze, General Delegate of the Belem Foundation:

“In 1896, when the Belem was launched, no one could have imagined that 125 years later, the ocean would be so polluted. This clean three-masted ship, still rigged in the old fashioned way with 22 sails, is one of the strongest testimonies of the positive, sustainable and respectful impact of man on his maritime environment. The foundation is now committed to working with The SeaCleaners to raise awareness among Belem lovers to change their behaviour in order to fight against plastic pollution of the ocean.

Yvan Bourgnon, sailor, President and founder of The SeaCleaners:

“Behind the majesty of the three-masted ship, we tend to forget that the Belem is probably one of the best sailing schools for adults in the world. I am convinced that all those who, like me, have the ocean running through their veins and wish to sail, must also learn to preserve the seas from the scourge of plastic pollution. The SeaCleaners is proud to put its expertise at the service of the Belem so that every sailor and every visitor to this exceptional ship is made aware of this issue and learns to better protect this essential ecosystem.

This partnership will result in concrete and joint actions:

At sea, several times a year, a lecturer from The SeaCleaners will board the Belem to raise awareness of plastic pollution for the general public and the professional crew on board.
During the Belem’s stopovers, activities will be organised on the quayside to raise public awareness and scientific conferences will be held on the deck of the Belem for the general public and companies.
For the school public: an educational booklet containing games, quizzes and key information on plastic will help to raise awareness among the adults of tomorrow of the need to preserve the oceans.

Every year, 9 to 12 million tonnes of plastic waste end up in the oceans, causing irreparable damage to biodiversity and ecosystems, destroying biodiversity and killing 1.5 million marine animals, through suffocation, strangulation or ingestion.

About the Belem Foundation:

Built and launched in Nantes in 1896, the three-masted Belem has had several lives: as a French merchant ship, then as a British pleasure yacht, and finally as a training ship. The Belem was bought by the Caisses d’Epargne in 1979, then entrusted in 1980 to the Belem Foundation, created to ensure her preservation in the maritime heritage of France and her operation as a training ship open to all. The purchase and return of the Belem to France was the first nationwide sponsorship action of the Caisses d’Epargne. Today, 40 years later, support for the Belem Foundation is still the most important commitment of the Caisses d’Epargne in favor of heritage.

The Belem in a few figures :

• Since 1986, the Belem Foundation has enabled nearly 50,000 people to sail on board the Belem and 1,500,000 people to visit it
• 16 crew members on board the Belem from the merchant navy: a captain, a chief mate, two mates, a chief engineer, a boatswain (the bosco), eight sailors, two cooks
• 1896, the year the Belem, a three-masted steel-hulled barque, was built
• 33, the number of commercial campaigns carried out by the Belem between 1896 and 1914
• 1980, creation of the Belem Foundation by the Caisse d’Epargne
• 58 metres, the length of the Belem
• 2012, participation of the Belem in the Queen’s Jubilee and the London Olympic Games
• 18 to 28 April 2014: the historic return of the Belem to Venice
• 10 June 2016: 120 years of the Belem
• 1 December 2019: a new manager for the ship based in Mérignac: ST Management
• 2020: 40 years of existence of the Belem Foundation
• 2020/ 2021 : The Belem Foundation suffers the health crisis, forced to stop the ship’s activities for 17 months