Bleichen, Museum ship at Hansa Harbor in Hamburg, Germany
MS Bleichen is a preserved cargo ship from the postwar era docked at the Bremer Kai in Hamburg harbor, now open as a museum vessel. The ship is about 280 feet (85 m) long and shows the layout of a multipurpose freighter, with cargo holds, deck equipment, and crew quarters.
The Bleichen was built in 1958 at the Nobiskrug shipyard in Rendsburg and spent decades carrying goods through the Baltic Sea and other European waters. Commercial service ended in 2006, after which the ship was kept in Hamburg as a museum vessel.
The name Bleichen refers to a historic district in Hamburg once known for bleaching cloth. Stepping on board, visitors can see the cramped cabins and shared spaces where the crew lived during long voyages.
The ship is moored at the Bremer Kai near the harbor museum, and the surrounding area is flat and easy to walk around. Once on board, some areas require climbing steep ladders, so comfortable footwear is a good idea.
The original diesel engine by Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz is still on board and is one of the few surviving examples of that propulsion technology from the late 1950s. Much of the original steering and navigation equipment has also been kept, making this one of the more complete surviving examples of its kind.
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