A new deadline, set for the end of February was also not met and Thomas Ullrich of RMS Chartering in Duisburg has now told Maritime Journal naming will not take place until the end of April. Extensive trials are planned in the meantime and the German Ministry of the Environment, which is helping fund the project by New-Logistics in Kiel, also wants to vet progress.

The 3,300dwt RMS Kiel is a 97.5m long, 13.6m wide river-going coastal vessel for containers, coils and break-bulk, drawing 4.15 m. Costing a reported 7.3m to develop, it is of modular construction (stern and bow) with a semi-catamaran bow and an optional air bubble lubrication system both of which are said to reduce friction. Propulsion is from four MTU engines, unusually located two at the stern and two at the bow.

A follow-up order from the Reederei Gerhardt & Deymann in Haren is for TMS Till Deymann, an inland tanker version of the same tonnage but 109.8m long and 11.45m wide, mainly for service on the Rhine.

Two further Futura tanker versions have now been ordered by Hans Schramm & Sohn in Brunsbuttel for copper ore transport. No details of those ships were however initially available.

There was also no further word of Detlef Maiwald, who was reported negotiating an order last year.