Impressive fire-fighting hybrids up Hamburg clout

Kai Gerullis, a spokesman for the customers, Hamburg Port Authority (HPA), told Maritime Journal in August that internal cabling and pipe installations were being completed and external paint work finished on the two 8m wide newbuilds in Gorinchem. He also reported the installation of containers housing specialist fire-fighting equipment as well as deck houses and specialist fire-fighting and diving platforms.

The work in the Netherlands follows hull completion at Damen’s Kozle shipyard in Poland and tug transfer lasting some three weeks to the Netherlands, Gerullis added.

The new multi-role ships, together costing €19.5 million, have already been named Prag and Dresden. Delivery is expected before year’s end prior to service in 2021 with Flotte Hamburg. That subsidiary of the HPA, created in 2017, manages, charters and is responsible for replacing some 50 specialist ships and workboats in Hamburg. They include ships of the fire-brigade, the waterways police and specialist road and bridge maintenance authorities.

Prag and Dresden are follow-up newbuilds to the superlative 43.5m Fassmer-built fire-fighting ship Branddirektor Westphal operating since early 2019 for the HPA and the Hamburg Fire Brigade. Costing €18 million it is billed as the most powerful boat of its kind in Europe. Built to cope with multi-storey modern container ships, its water and foam cannon project 120,000 litres a minute to 110m over a distance of 180m.

Prag and Dresden, with a water cannon capacity of just 30,000 litres a minute over 110m, are much less powerful. But because of their smaller size they are more versatile and available for a wider range of work including HPA bridge inspection and maintenance.

Like Branddirektor Westphal, the newbuilds also impress with their engine configuration. Each has two Schottel SCD 150 380kW rudder propellers and an STT 60 LK 100kW transverse bow thruster. Reports said the rudder propellers will also have new Schottel SDC40 nozzles making for a thruster configuration free-running speed of 12 knots.

Also like Branddirektor Westphall, Caterpillar generators have been chosen. Prag and Dresden will each have two 345kW C18 units and one 250kW C9.3 generator. Their plug in drive battery systems are from EST-Floattech.