Lindenau overhaul spate as future is secured

The ships were the tail-end of an impressive string of specialist small ships and workboats to call at Lindenau for maintenance, repair or overhaul and reported by MD Dieter Kühne to MJ. It is tonnage on which Lindenau, which used to be Germany’s top builder of innovative tankers, has relied heavily to stay afloat since it went into receivership in 2008.

As the year turned, Lindenau re-delivered the 65.9m long coastal patrol vessel Bad Bramstedt to the Bundespolizei. The handover completed an extensive overhaul of the GL-classed, ten year old ship which began in autumn and included drydocking and class work required to clear it for a further decade of service.

Bad Bramstedt was completed by Abeking & Rasmussen in 2002 on a hull from Jantar in Kaliningrad and is one of three sisters for the police. Drawing 3.2m, the single-screw vessel is driven by an MTU 16V 1163 diesel of 5,200kW developing 21.5 knots and also has a 600kW diesel-electric auxiliary.

Also worthy of note, Kühne reported, was the docking of the 72m Danish anchor handling tug newbuild Esvargt Server. The yard renewed sea valves, carried out crane work and assisted with Azimuth drive inspection on the 2,576gt vessel.

Other specialist German boats to call lately for maintenance or repair were the 36m Shipping and Waterways ice-breaking buoy and chart tender Görmitz and the 55m multi-purpose research vessel Alkor. The 52m German hydrographic, survey and research vessel Deneb also came for overhaul while the 110m Bundesmarine tanker Spessart called for maintenance and the 56.2m pollution protection vessel Scharhörn berthed for several days.

Finally, Lindenau carried out maintenance on the tug Taifun and improvement work on the 17m customs boat Amrum and the 71.9m general cargo ship Ilka, belonging to local owner Thordsen. Just to complete the varied pallet, the 50m German brig Roald Amundsen, which was one of two sailing ships to call at Lindenau recently, will call again for work in March and the former icebreaker Max Waldeck was also booked in for early 2013, Dieter Kühne reported.

“You will see”, he told MJ “that Lindenau is now being regarded as a ship repair location of merit. We are going into the new year full of hope”. He added that “the employees of Lindenau have worked hard and deserve to be rewarded”.

Kühne’s comments were made before it was confirmed that Lindenau was joining Nobiskrug and ADM Kiel as of January 1st as part of Abu Dhabi Mar’s Privinvest Holding. Observers believed that will improve Lindenau’s future prospects considerably.

By TOM TODD