Fassmer repairs biggest police boat
The biggest patrol boat serving river and coastal waters police in the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein has undergone extensive regular maintenance and small repairs.
Police spokesman Sven Stange at the state’s police boats division in Kiel told Maritime Journal the general overhaul on the 34.2m long, 7m wide Sylt had been carried out at the Fassmer Werft where Sylt was built in 2009. When it was delivered Sylt was described as not only the biggest but also the most powerful boat in police service.
The latest work at Fassmer was planned for completion around mid May, Stange said, but was still going on as this report for Maritime Journal went to press.
It included anti-fouling, anode renewal, coating of above-water areas including superstructures and decks, the renewal of floor coverings in the mess and cabins as well as conservation.
Stange also said new sealing had been required on the oil sump of one of the boat’s engines and that the unit had to be lifted out of the engine room for repair and later re-installed.
Asked if there were plans to replace Sylt, Stange said “the average life span for a police boat in Schleswig-Holstein is 20 years. So this boat will continue to be in our service for quite a few years to come”.
He reported that the vessel still had its original engines which in the meantime had about 5,200 operational hours to their credit. That means that Sylt’s two electronically controlled and monitored, water-cooled MTU Diesels Type 16V2000, each of 1440kW and providing 26 knots, are still giving good service.
Sylt cost about €6m to build and was the second of four big coastal boats ordered at Fassmer at the time as part of a police fleet renewal programme. The other three were 27m boats.
Fassmer is currently also building three much bigger police vessels for the Bundespolizei-See – the maritime arm of the German Federal Police responsible for monitoring the country’s North Sea and Baltic coastlines.
They will be 86m long ocean-going ships to replace vessels already described as obsolete. Despite that, a police spokeswoman told this correspondent earlier this year that their delivery will not begin until December 2018.
Fassmer has said those ships will be “ultra-modern, efficient and eco-friendly” with helicopter landing decks capable of handling Super Puma helicopters – the biggest in police service. Fassmer has also said the ships would be “equipped with a particularly eco-friendly propulsion system” but gave no further details.
The original tender invitation stipulated mono-hulled vessels with twin propellers, of about 80m and a beam of at least 12.6m. A top speed of at least 21 knots was also stipulated and a range of 4,000 nautical miles at 16 knots.
By Tom Todd
