Gorch Fock repairs take longer, cost more

Tom Todd writes: Amid reports the hull of the 53-year-old veteran is extensively rotten, Captain Gunnar Wolff, Bundesmarine spokesman in Rostock told The Motorship “further hull sections in need of repair have been discovered”.

The 81.2m long three-master is currently drydocked at Bredo in Bremerhaven being repaired by the Elsflether Werft, which won the work in January.

Wolff said the ship, originally due for completion in May, would probably have to stay docked until 19 June. He indicated it could be longer because a complete hull inspection had not been completed.

Originally repair costs were put at €500,000, which rose to more than €1m after earlier inspection. Wolff said the Bundesmarine now estimated cost at about €4.4 million.

A spokesman for the German Office of Defence Technology and Procurement in Coblenz told The Motorship however the exact condition of the ship, and thus the cost of repairs, would only be known for certain after hull inspection had been completed.