Museum Tickets - Cap San Diego

The "Cap San Diego" was commissioned in 1962 - as the last of six identical general cargo ships that operated on regular routes between Europe and South America. Southbound, she carried machinery, technical and chemical products; on the return journey, raw coffee, cocoa, beef, fruit in refrigerated holds, and edible oils in heated tanks. The "Cap San Diego" never carried bananas.

The ship was ordered by the Hamburg-based shipping company Hamburg Süd, which belonged to the Dr. Oetker conglomerate at the time. All ships of this class bore geographical names "Kap San ..." or "Capo San ..."; this vessel is named after the western tip of Tierra del Fuego. It was built at the German Shipyard in Hamburg-Finkenwerder, where the Airbus factory stands today.

Before containerization, cargo was loaded loose in crates, sacks, or barrels. The ship features large cargo holds, masts with cargo booms, and two mobile cranes. The freighter could carry up to 10,000 tons of cargo - a quantity that took around seven days to load in general cargo operations. Today, container ships move the same amount in a maximum of eight hours. This made the "Cap San Diego" unprofitable within just a few years of entering service; by 1986, it faced scrapping in Asia. The city of Hamburg literally saved the ship at the last moment - today it lies as a museum ship at the Überseebrücke in front of the Elbphilharmonie.

Several times a year, the ship embarks on voyages. All areas on board are accessible, from the bridge to the engine room, and the crew explains the functions of the world's largest seaworthy museum freighter.