Impressive RheinFantasie enters service
Big demand for special functions on the Rhine motivated the building of the €10m multi-function event ship RheinFantasie, whose owners have this time plumped for a monohull newbuild instead of a second catamaran.
The new 85m long and 14m wide ship, which draws 1.2m and carries up to 1,000 passengers, has just gone into service on the Rhine with Köln-Düsseldorfer Deutsche Rheinschiffahrt (KD) after completion at Holland’s de Hoop Shipyard in Lobith. The Dutch yard has already built other ships for KD.
Designed by the Büro Schiffstechnik Buchloh on the Rhine, the three deck RheinFantasie is similar in style and concept to KD’s 1,650 passenger catamaran RheinEnergie. However, RheinEnergie, which has been in service since 2004, is bigger at 90.3m long and 19.3m wide and also has total available space of 2,000 m2.
The older triple decker has been much in demand for special event excursions, one of which was hosting German born Pope Benedikt on a trip down the Rhine in 2005.
Although smaller all round, the impressive new RheinFantasie also has a lot going for it. The vessel has total available space of 1,600 sq/m and its main features include a 900 sq/m play area for children, an open air, partially covered grill deck with seating for 750 people, and forward placed viewing salons. A generous midships gallery with ceilings 6m high has a 35 sq/m stage which will rival many land based facilities.
RheinFantasie is driven by two water cooled MTU Type 12V2000M61 diesels, each of 600 kW at 1,800 rpm, operating over unspecified gearbox plant to two CRP rudder propellers. Service speed is put at 21 kms/h, which can rise to 25 kms/h when the boat is running downstream. Other equipment includes a Scania Dl 12-56A bow thruster plant, three Scania Dl 12-70M generators, and a Sisu 49DTAG port power auxiliary unit.
By Tom Todd
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