New Elbe floating dredge ship is a “one off”

The €4.2 million newbuild is operating with the Waterways and Shipping Office (WSA) in Magdeburg after completion by the Genthin facility of SET Schiffswerften, which also operates a yard in nearby Tangermünde.

Although it has the same name and much the same job as an older 33.25m WSV boat operating elsewhere, the SET newbuild is nonetheless described by yard officials as a “one off, created by craftsmen” and “worthy of the label made in Genthin”.

That’s probably because the 9.5m wide Krabbe, which draws just 0.90m empty and 1.25m loaded, is equipped with a 50 ton on-board hydraulic crawler excavator to do the dredging work. The Type R 946 excavator from Liebherr, with 3,000hp capacity is, as one report puts it, “capable of lifting a bit!”. To stay stable during dredging, Krabbe has two hydraulic collapsible legs to hold it on the river bed.

The dredger’s three-man crew has the basic job of maintaining required water depths along a more than 200 kms stretch of the Upper Elbe. The task includes the removal of shoals and sand deposits and other obstacles from the shipping lanes. Shallow water is a regular problem on the Elbe as is flooding and particularly on the upper reaches.

The newbuild is also being used for on-shore lifting on piers and in locks, weirs and pumping facilities, securing banks and laying gravel, as well as for removing obstacles after accidents and damage caused by flooding.

Krabbe is driven by two 294kW Volvo diesels which operate two Schottel rudder propellers each with 360 degree turning capability. This, SET said, made the ship particularly maneuverable, without the need for a classic rudder system. Two unidentified auxiliary diesels for on-board power supply are also in the engine room.

The newbuild also has a urea waste gas treatment system from Fischer Abgastechnik which has co-operated with SET in the production of a number newbuildings. When Krabbe was launched, SET MD Olaf Deter stressed the importance the shipyard placed on scrubber technology for its small cruise and passenger ships.