It is, however, packed with technology to keep locks, harbour basins and berths in Bremen and Bremerhaven free from sand and silt, maintaining water deep enough for big container ships.

That’s a tall order given that Bremerhaven has just inaugurated the first of another four 300 to 500m long berths on its new container terminal extension, CT 4. Two more berths come on stream this year and the final one next year. Fourteen ships will then be able to berth simultaneously along nearly 5km of deepwater quayside.

The latest berths are for the world’s biggest 11500 TEU vessels now serving with Maersk Line. CT 4 has a 1,700m long and 100m wide channel on 16.2m of water. Fast dredging last year created a 600m turning basin just in time for the first of the new ships, Emma Maersk.

Hol Blank will operate down to 21m, much more than her predecessor Hol Deep, which has been doing the job since 1994 and reached its limit at 2,500 operations a year. It has moved to shallower work in Bremen.

Hol Blank has twin 221 kW double engine plant and a bow thruster of 331 kW for additional manoeuverability. The vessel has a speed of 6 knots. Each of its two 331 kW capacity pump motors can handle some 3,600 m³ an hour. Deck equipment includes a crane with an 8.82m outreach and a lifting capacity of 4.75 tons.

By Tom Todd