Multipurpose Cargo Vessel Launched At GHH Sterkrade Yard

The launching ceremony for a new ship, Yard No. 1143, was performed recently at the M.A.N. Division GHH Sterkrade dock construction yard, Nordenham/Blexen, by Mrs. Franziska Ewen, the wife of the West German Member of Parliament Carl Ewen (Aurich/Emden). Another ship of the same design, the Yard No. 1144, is also to be launched this year from the GHH Walsum shipyard on the Rhine.

These 3,020-dwt multipurpose cargo ships are of a special design, combining certain features of a seagoing ship with those characteristic of an inland waterway vessel.

These features essentially are a minimum draft, low fixed point heights, wheelhouses that can be hydraulically lowered to provide extra clearance for passing under bridges, and a great stability in high seas. All the necessary navigational equipment is also installed.

This new concept in transport is economical in terms of both time and money, eliminating the costs of reloading goods from inland waterway vessels onto seagoing ships, and vice versa. Thus, possibilities for new markets arise. Much experience has been gained in the past few years by building prototypes of this kind of ship, which are used to serve ports on the Rhine as well as on the Danube and Rhone Rivers.

The ship is driven by a four-stroke main diesel engine having a power rating of 970 kw (1,320 bhp) via a reversing speed reducer with fixed-pitch propeller. The propelling machinery is designed to insure 16 hours unattended operation. Two three-phase ac generator sets, each for 100 kva, in addition to a port-duty set for 46 kva, supply the ship with electrical power.

The living quarters, comprising 11 single cabins are situated aft and are complete with air-conditioning and modern furnishings.

The navigational equipment consists of the electrohydraulically driven steering gear, the electrically driven bow thruster having a power rating of 100 kw, as well as the automatic steering system coupled with the gyrocompass.

Various units are available for navigation both at sea and on rivers. These include a river radar unit, sea radar unit, echosounding gear, satellite-based navigation system, radio direction finder, intermediate/ shortwave and radiotelephone system, and two ultra-shortwave radio systems, one designed for the sea, the other for use on the Rhine.

Built under survey of German Lloyd according to class GL + 100A 4 E, fitted for container transport, and + MCE Aut. 16/24, the ship has an overall length of about 327.4 feet, molded beam of 37.2 feet, molded depth of 25.5 feet, and draft of 14.3 feet.

Maritime Reporter Magazine, page 44, Jul 1981

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Maritime Reporter

First published in 1881 Maritime Reporter is the world's largest audited circulation publication serving the global maritime industry.