German yards bag more specialist work

The small Nobiskrug Werft in Rendsburg won the overhaul of the multi-purpose icebreaking and oil-recovery research ship Arkona, according to German reports.

The unspecified overhaul of the 69.2m long, 15m wide Arkona, which boasts four MTU 1140 kW engines driving two Schottel rudder units, was for completion in October, the reports said. Nobiskrug now specialises in yacht newbuilding and repair and the choice of the yard this time for Arkona marks a break with Lindenau and P&S Yards, both used for previous overhauls.

Another small yard, the Neue Jadewerft in Wilhelmshaven, was reported to have bagged repair and conversion work on one of the world’s biggest private yachts, the 110m long Radiant. No details of that were reported either but Jadewerft copes with a wide range of repair and maintenance with a 135m dock, an 80m slipway and a 100m hall.

At the other end of the spectrum, Blohm + Voss Repair in Hamburg was reported repairing grounding damage on the 92,720dwt tanker Katja in its giant Elbe Dock 17. The work was reported lasting up to 12 days.

B+V was also expecting three big Hapag-Lloyd container ships in early October. Two of them, the 104,015dwt Prague Express and the 103,662dwt Budapest Express were calling for inwater survey while the third, the 54,157dwt Dublin Express was docking for cleaning, hull painting, repair and class work.

Finally, nearly a year of work on the 82.2m German sail training ship Gorch Fock at Bredo and the Elsflether Werft has ended with latest reports tipping a bill for the Bundesmarine of nearly €10 million.

Massive hull rust damage was discovered and rectified on the 54-year-old veteran, which originally docked at Lindenau Schiffswerft last year for work expected to cost no more than €1 million.