End in sight for ferry conversion saga

The Danish-German ferry company said it was “working hard … to complete the two ships before the year ends” at the Fayard Shipyard in Denmark. It also said the plan was to take the 169.5m long ships into service between Gedser and Rostock “in the second half of 2015”.

Technically, Berlin and Copenhagen are still newbuilds and despite earlier reports of a possible name change, Scandlines is now calling them by their original names.

The vessles were ordered from the P+S Group’s Volkswerft in Germany in early 2010 but later rejected as overweight, overdue and not to specification. P+S went bankrupt in 2012 and Scandlines bought back the laid-up ships cheaply last year.

It commissioned Blohm+Voss in Hamburg to convert and rectify them, but then changed its mind and transferred the ships to Fayard. The swap was believed to be connected with delivery times. Initial hopes were to have them ready late last year and then early this year – some 700 tonnes lighter with fewer vehicles and passengers. Work has however clearly been more complex than first thought.

Scandlines’ latest report said new funnels have now been fitted and the ships will be drydocked until early May for equipment inspection and cleaning of equipment including drives and manoeuvering gear, rudders, bow thrusters, Azipods and Rolls Royce propellers. Work on new interiors and equipment on completely renewed decks seven and eight is continuing and new heating, ventilation and air conditioning and cable systems are being installed, the company said.

During the docking, personnel would also begin the installation of the ships’ innovative new hybrid propulsion systems, AEC Marine closed-loop scrubbers and navigation bridges, Scandlines reported.