Atair bids under study

A spokesman for the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) in Hamburg told Maritime Journal that initial bids had been received from unidentified yards to plan and build a replacement for the nearly 30 year old hydrographic, wreck search and research ship Atair.

He added that specifications were being worked out so that yards could now make firm offers and that yards which had already responded to the tender invitation had four months to make those offers. The first such bids should be in hand this summer, he said.

The 51.4m long and 11.4m wide Atair is one of three specialist hydrographic, wreck search and research ships operated by the BSH for the German Government. The others are the 52.05m sisters Wega and Deneb, built in 1990 and 1994.

The responsibilities of the BSH, with offices in Hamburg and Rostock, include maritime safety, hydrographic survey, maritime pollution monitoring, and approvals of offshore installations.

Last October it invited bids for an ocean-going ship of maximum 75m in length and 18m breadth drawing 4.5 to 5m and with a freeboard height of 2m on design draught, a trials speed of 13 knots and a service speed of 11 knots.

It was expected to be innovative, economic, energy-efficient and eco-friendly and have modern accommodation for 18 crew and 15 scientists as well as space for six 20ft laboratory containers and two further 10ft containers. The new ship was also required to have two on-board tenders suitable for carrying out ocean measurement and wreck-search work.

Reports said the plan was to have the newbuilding in operation in three years to carry out operations in the North Sea, Baltic and northeast Atlantic. It would be the biggest German ship of its kind and the reports spoke of an anticipated cost of around €80 million.

It is only weeks since officials of another prominent agency, the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) told Maritime Journal bids were also being examined for the “construction and turnkey delivery” of the new Polar ice-breaking research and supply newbuilding Polarstern 11.

The AWI operates the existing 33 year old Polarstern and will also operate Polarstern 11 for the Government. The cost of the ship has previously been put at around €450 million.

The existing Polarstern has just left Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven after the repair of propeller damage sustained in the Antarctic. That ship is just the latest in a series of research ships to suffer breakdowns of late and which have drawn attention to the need for multi-million Euro replacements in Germany’s scientific and research fleet.

By Tom Todd