On 7 July 1902, the ship ran out of 5 Pfennig postage stamps, and postal regulations prohibited resupply from colonial sources or other ships.  The postal clerk therefore resorted to established procedures for denoting a cash franking.  He applied the MSP No. 2 cancel to the upper left of each piece and handwrote a ‘5’ in the lower left corner to show the postage paid.  MSP cancel dates from 7 July 1902 to 6 August 1902 are from the outbound voyage, with dates 22 August 1902 to 25 September 1902 from the return voyage.

Upon arrival at a German post office, a 5 Pfennig stamp was affixed and canceled.  Most of the known items were sent to Germany and bear “Berlin C 1 Marine-Postbureau” or “Berlin C 2” cancels.  Approx. 140-150 pieces franked in this manner are known. 

The rarest are a small number (≈13) from the return voyage which were sent not to Germany, but to China, where they received Tientsin cancels.