The renewal, part of an infrastructure programme, has been underway since 2016 and has covered the introduction of three almost identical boats capable of a wide variety of work. The 22.68m hydrographic survey boat Oland went into service in 2016 and the 22.5m tug and survey boat Hooge in 2018.
All operate for the LKN.SH – the governmental agency responsible for coastal defence, national parks and marine protection in Schleswig -Holstein, Germany’s northernmost state. The region lies between two seas and is prone to flooding.
With a 466kms North Sea coastline to the west and a 536kms Baltic coastline to the east, coastal defence is vital. It is the job of the LKN-SH to shore-up sandbanks, check dykes and clear out tidal inlets. “That’s why the modernisation of the coastal protection fleet has been particularly important”, said a state government spokeswoman.
Trischen has cost about €5 million to build at SET Schiffbau in Tangermünde, inland on the River Elbe. It replaces a namesake which has been in coastal and waterway operation for 36 years. Like its predecessor, a main task of the newbuild is coastal protection.
Based in Husum, the newbuild is now in service along the area’s shallow-water,island- dotted North Sea coast. It is 7.5m wide, draws a maximum 1.05m and has a flat bottom to allow it to sit on the mud. Propulsion is diesel electric. Two Scania DI13 diesels of total 736kW power two electric motors each of 221kW which in turn drive the boat’s two propellers.Trischen also has a bow thruster, a Palfinger offshore crane along with a work boat and modern navigation systems as well as accomodation for three crew.
Hendrik Brunckhorst at the LKN.SH told Maritime Journal the new boat had been specially constructed to stir up the seabed so that sediment can be dispersed with the tides – maintaining water depths for shipping. It does this using two pumps which inject up to 40,000 litres of water a minute into the seabed using an adjustable tube and water jets. The boat is also used as a tug and to transport coastal defence materials.
