Bremerhaven yards host special ships
Bremerhaven repair yards have seen more than their usual share of special ships of late, among them offshore, seismic and polar expedition tonnage.
Undergoing conversion at Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven (LWB) at the start of July was the 93m platform supply ship Island Captain. It has arrived to join sister Island Centurion, which docked last October. In what LWB has described as a “costly and complex project” their conversion into deep sea well-service ships is for completion this year.
Three polar expedition ships have also been among the specialist mid-sized callers. The 112m adventure cruise ship National Geographic Explorer docked for what LWB said was “comprehensive technical and class work”. It included extensive repairs to thruster, rudder and shaft plant. Yard MD Ruediger Pallentin said the job was “just right for us” and could be “a dry run for further possible orders”.
The other two Polar adventure ships to visit Bremerhaven recently were the 117m Russian sisters Akademik Ioffe and Akademik Sergey Vavilov. They berthed at neighbouring German Dry Docks (GDD) for pre-Arctic season overhaul.
Created at the start of the year, GDD is an amalgamation of the former Rickmers Lloyd Dockbetrieb and the shipbuilding division of Motorenwerke Bremerhaven (MWB). The new group offers four repair docks, bolstered when needed by two more at LWB. All the yards are part of the Petram Group and the amalgamation is part of the creation of a powerful ship repair, conversion, completion and newbuilding hub in the heart of Bremerhaven.
“For many years we have complained about shipyards working against each other. That is now history”, said Mr Pallentin.
Another special ship at GDD was the 91.4m long seismic ship Pacific Explorer, which came in for dry docking, repairs and overhaul. Built as Shell America in 1983 and only later converted into a seismic ship, it was reportedly the first ship of its kind to boast six streamers and now has eight.
Among others to call, reflecting a wide range of ship types, was the 84m research and survey ship Ocean Discovery which berthed alongside during its stay.
The 78.3 m offshore supply ship Vos Sympathy, the 96m long LPG tanker Lady Hilde and the 35.1m floating crane Jade Lift I were further special ships which docked at GDD and the yard group also coped with three Bundesmarine frigates and a corvette. The yard described the work on all ships as generally routine class or accident repairs.
The other major local repair facility Bremerhavener Dockbetrieb (BREDO) also hosted a pair of special German ships. MD Dirk Harms said they had called for “extensive maintenance programmes”.
They were the 71.5m oil recovery and buoy-laying vessel Mellum and the 64m fisheries research ship Walther Herwig 111.
By Tom Todd
