For whom the bell tolls...

[Jens Boldt]

...and miracles happen:-)

28 years after it had been stolen from a storage aboard the ship at Hamburg, Cap San Diego's (IMO 5060794) original ship's bell reappeared!

The bell was seized by the police last Tuesday in Cologne, Germany, and meanwhile has returned aboard Cap San Diego:-)

Cheers,
Jens

[Cap']

Somebody stole the builders plate from the MS Funchal whilst undergoing its extensive refurbishment las year, hopefully this can be recovered a bit sooner!

http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1857415

[Jens Boldt]

Brian, I'll keep my fingers crossed that they'll find the plate soon. I don't want this to sound like the prophecy of doom, but I don't think that in 28 years from now on the plate can be returned to Funchal...

Ken, yes there is, but earlier I've been a bit too lazy to translate it into English

Ok... they never found out who stole the ship's bell in the first place. What they did find out is that the bell must have been stored in a cellar of a house here at Hamburg. In 2001 the house was sold and at some point the new owners must have discovered the bell. In 2013 (!) they decided to sell it on the internet. A guy from Bremerhaven bought it for

[Bill Godfrey]

Here is a link to an article in German about the recovery of the Cap San Diego's original bell, with a photo of the bell.

http://www.welt.de/regionales/hamburg/article124191010/Cap-San-Diego-bekommt-Schiffsglocke-zurueck.html

That page also has this link to photos of a parade of ships on the Elbe in September, including the Cap San Diego.

http://www.welt.de/regionales/hamburg/article120509745/Parade-mit-36-Traditionsschiffen-auf-der-Elbe.html

Bill