The second of two 49.35m SWATH ships for German Customs has entered service after completion at the Nordseewerke Shipyard in Emden.
Borkum joined sister ship Helgoland, also based in Cuxhaven, which was completed and delivered by Nordseewerke last August.
The yard has now been sold to a German wind turbine builder but will continue to maintain a ship sector for a few years and has been completing newbuilding orders. The yard was also responsible for building Germany’s biggest SWATH (small water plane area, twin hull) ship to date, the 60m Planet, in 2004.
The latest ships were ordered by the German Ministry of Finance and are the most modern and also the biggest in service with German Customs. They carry out Customs duties along EU boundaries and patrol Germany’s EEZ and also serve as part of the Coast Guard, undertaking additional jobs like pollution monitoring, fisheries protection and ship policing.
Borkum and Helgoland are 19m wide, draw 4.55m and displace 1,000 tons. Their propulsion system comprises four MTU 16V4000 diesel gensets, each of 2.2MW, two 3.8MW electric drive motors and a 300kW bow thruster. Speed capability is put at 20 knots and the range, at 15 knots, is 2,300nm.
A starboard boarding and rescue platform runs between the main deck and the sea surface providing safe access to low floating objects. The ships also carry 8.5m RIBs capable of more than 40 knots and launched from a C frame with a wave compensating winch system.
The makers said the latest SWATHs had been engineered to operate in all weathers and sea conditions and boasted superb seakeeping qualities and comfort at all speeds in unforgiving conditions, with their completely submerged twin buoyancy hulls running stable with little wave influence. They also noted the generous accommodation and a helicopter winching area on three large decks.
