13.5m police boat is packed with functionality

The all-aluminium Schwanenwerder (WSP 24) took a year to build at the Hermann Barthel Werft on the Elbe, which specialises in workboats for local authorities and won the Europe-wide invitation to tender. It cost some €890,000 and although Schwanenwerder is a small boat at 13.5m x 3.8m and draws just 0.8m it is technically very versatile, according to police specifications.

Berlin Police spokeswoman Anje Dierschke told Maritime Journal it had joined a fleet of about 16 vessels of various types on a navigable waterways network which extends over some 220kms in and around the German capital.

Its scope of work is a wide one covering far more than just routine police patrol work. It also includes specialist diving and recovery operations using a hydraulic recovery platform.

Schwanenwerder is driven by two water cooled, turbo-charged six cylinder Iveco FPT marine engines Type 2004/26/EC each of 169kW over ZF 280-1A gearings. There is also a Fischer Panda 12-4 PMS 230V generator on board.

A modern bridge is equipped with Kappis-Nautic joystick control, a Swiss radar precision navigator, a Böning AHD 414A monitoring panel and digital radio equipment, navigation screens and air conditioning.

A1100 Series side-scan sonar provides near 3D views of waterway beds – an important feature for police seeking to locate people or objects under water. Another important feature is the boat’s array of observation cameras located to starboard and port and in the stern as well as an infrared unit for night observation.

Anja Dierschke, a spokeswoman for the Berlin Police said it had been decided not to equip the latest boat with an emission control system.

She told Maritime Journal that was because a suitable certified system had not been available for WSP 24 when it was ordered. She noted that a Tehag AWF-b 1400 particle filter plant fitted into a previous police boat had proved prone to regular failure when in service. Reports said the police boat in question was the Seedler which went into service in 2015. According to the reports other boats had also had problems with clogged filters which had led to regular lay-up periods.