Posted on March 2, 2021
Wesergrund, described as the first floating grab of its kind for government coastal and estuary operation in Germany, has been launched at SET Tangemuende Shipyard, reports Tom Todd.
The unique newbuild is expected to enter service in summer after delivery by the inland Elbe River facility. It is an ocean-going grab designed for operations on the the River Weser and its tributaries and canals as well as in the coastal waters of the North Sea.
Claudia Thoma, spokeswoman for the German Government’s Waterways and Shipping Administration WSV in Bonn, told Maritime Journal Wesergrund will operate for the WSV’s Weser-Jade-Nordsee local waterways and shipping office (WSA) in Bremen. It will be the first such German ship to be specially built for coastal service, she said.
SET is part of the German Heinrich Rönner Group which is involved in the maritime industry and in heavy steel construction. The concern won the Wesergrund contract in 2018 and its MD Olaf Deter said the order reflected the good name SET had made for itself in specialist shipbuilding. The small yard has, in fact, delivered 203 such vessels since German unification in 1990, and turned out many more before that as a GDR shipyard. Since becoming part of Rönner in 2007 its two yards in Tangermünde and nearby Genthin have built 33 specialist ships.
The launch of Wesergrund, which carries a crew of two, was a quiet one without public ceremony or visitors, as originally planned. That was because of Covid restrictions which also contributed to the later than expected delivery.
The newbuild is 47.05m loa and 10.50m wide with a fixed height of 4.8m. With a steel hull and aluminium superstructures and a working deck it draws just 1.30m – extending already impressive coastal capabilities to include operations in shallow flat water regions.
The power for Wesergrund’s DC drive and on-board electrical network is provided by three 368kW ScanDiesel generators fitted with scrubber technology and there is also a 38kW port diesel on board. Its two Type 3400HD rudder propellers are from Hydro Armor, each of 323kW @ 735 revs/min, and are powered by an electrically driven hydraulic pump. In addition the ship has a Pumpjet Type SPJ 57 RD from Schottel with an output of 220kW. Wesergrund’s speed is put at 16km/h when travelling alone and at 13km/h when the ship is in convoy with barges.
Wesergrund carries a 50 ton Liebherr Type R 956 V Litronic hydraulic crawler excavator which can be positioned using the ship’s adjustable main propulsion systems, as well as the pumpjet and two hydraulic collapsible anchor stilts to keep it stable during dredging. The WSV noted that waste gas processing equipment is another feature on board the new floating grab.
Also to hand are a total seven winches from Kappis Nautic, two of them bow anchors, one in the stern and four mooring winches. The deck house is equipped as a one-man radar operation and height adjustable.
Claudia Thoma reported that the newbuild’s scope of work was a wide one covered not only sea and waterway grab and excavation work. It would also include the transport of deck loads, push and along-side towing services for barges and involvement in hydraulic projects as well as maintence and service work.
The cost of the new ship was not being revealed until after delivery, Thoma told Maritime Journal, but it is likely to be considerably higher than the €4.2 million paid for a previous SET floating grab which has just entered service with the Magdeburg WSA.
The 36m Krabbe II was completed at SET Genthin in 2019 but according to Thoma only entered service after completing function testing in November last year. It has two 294kW Volvo diesels driving Schottel rudder propellers with 360o turning capability. SET said this made it very maneuverable, without the need for a classic rudder system.
Krabbe may be smaller but its job is similar in scope to that of Wesergrund. It is designed to help keep the upper reaches of the Elbe clear for shipping to and from the port of Hamburg. Much like Wesergrund, it is much praised and described by waterway officials as a “one off”.
