Professional grade fire boat for Lucerne
The Swiss lake town of Lucerne has welcomed a state-of-the-art aluminium-hulled fire and rescue launch to replace a 28-year-old outgoing boat.
The Finnish builders of the boat, Kewatec, participated in the recent hand-over of their new Serecraft W14 FiFi fire- and rescue boat. Named Thor in a festive ceremony held in the presence of numerous honorary guests, the boat will be maintained by Shiptec AG from Lucerne, with whom Kewatec cooperates closely.
The 13.9m vessel is powered by a pair of Volvo Penta D6-380 diesels, giving a maximum speed of 35 knots.
The new fire and rescue boat will replace an earlier 28-year-old boat called Donner, which had large traces of wear and use and outdated equipment. Paul Winiker, a member of the Board of Directors, and a fire brigade pastor symbolically baptized the new boat with water. Martin Merki, Director of Social Affairs and Safety says: “With this procurement, our fire brigade will once again have a modern and needs-based emergency boat at its disposal.”
“The fire- and rescue boat is not only used for rescue and firefighting work in the event of fires on ships or boats,” says Fire Brigade Commander Theo Honermann. “It is also used to put out fires in buildings near the area’s beach.” In addition, fire and rescue boat is used to control water pollution, such as spilled oil.
Markus Magnusson, Project Manager at Kewatec said: “We are proud to have delivered this boat to the fire brigade in the city of Lucerne. We have long experience in building fire- and rescue boats and are convinced that it meets all the necessary requirements.”
After delivery, training for boat drivers will begin. The old fireboat will remain operational until all boat drivers have completed their training by October 2021 and thus the new fire- and rescue boat’s operational readiness is achieved.
Oy Kewatec AluBoat Ab specialises in professionally designed work boats, passenger boats, Fire Fighting and Oil Recovery boats, pilot boats and patrol vessels, which can be easily modified to meet the customer’s specific needs.
Turnover is approximately EUR 27 million and employs approximately 100 people. The locations are Kokkola, Porvoo and Bergen. The company is headquartered in Kokkola.
By Jake Frith
