Special overhauls keep German yards busy
Bremerhaven’s Rickmers Lloyd reported five special ships docked at the same time at one point last month, three of them German research vessels.
A demand for maintenance and repair on a string of special vessels, mainly research ships, kept prominent small German shipyards busy as the old year waned and in some cases into this new year.
Rickmers Lloyd, Motorenwerke Bremerhaven, Lindenau and Peters all reported research ship work, most of it on vessels in Germany’s extensive fleet of research ships and much of it seasonal overhaul and repair following recent long research ship voyages.
Bremerhaven’s Rickmers Lloyd reported five special ships docked at the same time at one point in December, three of them German research vessels.
The 54.6m Heincke came for general repairs and rudder propeller work, the 52.05m Deneb for class and conservation work, and the 54.6m Alkor for general repairs. The 31.63m tug Innovationcalled for rudder propeller overhaul and the 90.25m British seismic research ship Discovery got preparatory work prior to a seabed project in South American waters.
The Rickmers Lloyd work followed the €2m overhaul at Motorenwerke Bremerhaven of another prominent German research ship, the 97.5m Meteor. That included overhaul of two diesel generators and two 1,150kW tandem electric drives.
Lindenau Schiffswerft in Kiel tackled the routine overhaul of yet another prominent research ship, the 60.6m Poseidon.That 35 year old ship came in after a long spell at sea, in this case lasting two years. Routine overhaul of the IFM-Geomar operated ship included main engine and winches. The stern winch got new controls to improve handling of scientific equipment like the new deep-sea ROV Phoca. Hull painting and crane equipment renewal were also on the Poseidondocket.
Due for completion by late March at Peters Werft meanwhile (see MJ October 2011) is the extensive conversion of another specialised German ship, the 82.9m former German fisheries protection ship Seefalkeinto the US global research ship Falkor. That work began in 2009.
By Tom Todd
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