Koetter has just lengthened the 80m inland ship Ingberd by adding a 4.99m midship section and slightly shortening the bow. The vessel's deadweight increased from about 1,000 tons to some 1,120 tons.

Shipyard owner Hermann Koetter told MJ the 8.2m wide ship, which draws 2.62m, belonged to shipowner Bernd Wessels in Haren.

Ingberd was, Koetter said, followed into his yard by another inland cargo vessel, Janine, for lengthening by 12m for Dutch shipowner Jan Uil. That 73m long and 8.27m wide vessel was stretched to 85m, increasing the tonnage from 1,100 to 1,350dwt.

Koetter said that at the end of this year or early in January next year, shipowner Detlef Maiwald had booked in the hull of a tanker for 'expansion'work.

The German yard operator also told MJ that his shipyard had, as of mid-2006, taken over facilities at bankrupt Haren yard Schulte & Mueller.

He also revealed that Koetter Werft was, as of mid-June, talking to the firm of New Logistics in Kiel and also the German shipping company Gerhardt & Deymann, also in Haren, about building the Futura type tanker TMS Till Deymann.

That ship was, at last word, one of four on order with Con Mar. The others were the coastal version RMS Kiel and two copper ore transporters for Hans Schramm in Brunsbuettel.

Detlef Maiwald was, at one point, also reported interested in the type.