German oldtimers back in service

The 65 year old excursion launch Tokyo has been restored and put back into operation for the second time in just a few years after a fire on the Elbe in Hamburg almost completely destroyed it last year.

Tokyo is back with Maritime Circle Line, part of Gregors Group, after conversion at the local Feltz Werft for €370,000. As well as being virtually rebuilt, the boat was lengthened from 16.5m to 18m and widened from 3.4m to 4.8m increasing passenger capacity from 73 to 130.

The blaze on the boat happened soon after Maritime Circle Line completed the earlier conversion and renovation of all its boats, among them Tokyo, to meet new safety and stability regulations. That work included the construction of four bulkheads per boat to create watertight compartments and cost the owners about €80,000 per boat – a lot cheaper than the €700,000 cost of a new launch.

Owner Gregor Mogi told Maritime Journal the second restoration of Tokyo included the removal, cleaning, inspection and re-installation of the boat’s Iveco 180 hp engine, first fitted in 2008. “All the other technical gear on Tokyo was replaced”, Mogi added. Hydraulic plant was made up from individual components supplied by Dieter Rask Hydraulik.

Despite the installation of modern equipment including bow thruster, hydraulic power steering, folding aluminium rudder housing, a retractable panorama roof, twin stern passenger access and a change of colour from red to predominantly white, Tokyo still retains its traditional look.

Also now back in service with the Reederei Adler Schiffe fleet in Westerland, north Germany, is the steam-driven paddle steamer Freya – 110 years old in September.

Freya, built in 1905 in Holland as Westerschelde was at one time the royal yacht of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and has since then served among other things as a Diesel bunker ship, a floating super market and a charter vessel.

Carrying 250 passengers on three decks, the boat is 51.6m long, 11.4m wide and draws 2.2m. Two side-mounted paddle wheels are propelled by a 2-cylinder 140 hp compound steam engine, reportedly Dutch and installed in 1926, providing up to 8.5 knots. Also available is a 400 hp Deutz Diesel engine operating over a propeller.

Freya’s return to service follows the installation of a new rudder plant at the Lindenau Schiffswerft in Kiel, part of the ADM Privinvest group of shipyards.

The new rudder was custom-built at Lindenau sister yard Nobiskrug in Rendsburg on the nearby Kiel Canal. Freya has served on that Canal and on the River Elbe since being acquired by Adler in 1999.

By Tom Todd