WSM's Betty Vogel told MJ work was well under way on Spree Diamant and that she will be the first double-bottomed ferry to be built at the yard, to meet new regulations which take effect at the beginning of 2006.

Reederei Riedel Managing Director Lutz Freise told MJ plans were to take delivery of the new ship at the end of March and put it into service mid April in Berlin.

Spree Diamant , displacing 145 tons, will be for 220 passengers and seat 80-100 inside because she is filling the capacity gap left by the sale of a smaller Riedel fleet vessel last year.

Kreuzberg has 400 passengers and 150 inside seats.

She will however be wider than the 6.5m of her predecessor at 6.98m, with a side height of 1.75m and she will draw maximum 1.2m compared to Kreuzberg 's 1.4m.

Her propulsion plant consists of a Deutz BF6M 1015M engine of 185kW (252hp) and 1,900 revs/min.

Kreuzberg , which displaces 165 tons, has an almost identical engine plant of 246kW and 1,800 revs/min. The bigger vessel also sports a Schottel SRP 170 and a Kalkmann Beta 25, 18kW bow thruster compared to the Schottel SRP 110 and 22kW Duco bow thruster on Spree Diamant.