Nicolette Kressel, German Parliamentary State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance named the new vessel of the German Customs Administration 'Helgoland' at a ceremony held in Hamburg on August 4.
The vessel was built between 2007 and 2009 by TKMS Blohm + Voss Nordseewerke in Emden, a company of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems.
Numerous representatives from politics, industry and administration watched the naming and commissioning ceremony of the new customs vessel at the Überseebrücke in Hamburg.
Currently, the 'Helgoland' is the latest vessel of the customs administration. The 50-metre-long SWATH (small waterplane area twin hull) vessel is characterised by excellent seagoing behaviour and safe operating conditions at all speeds.
The vessel's diesel-electric propulsion ensures economic operation while its fuel consumption is significantly lower than that of a monohull vessel.
The 'Helgoland' will monitor the German Bight and the customs boundary of the European Union as part of its fisheries monitoring and pollution control tasks.
Homeported in Cuxhaven, 'Helgoland's' sister ship, 'Borkum' is to be delivered at the end of the year.
'Helgoland' and 'Borkum' each have an overall length of 49.35 metres, an overall beam of 19 metres, a depth to main deck of nine metres and a draught of 4.55 metres. Powered by four MTU 16V 4000 M 40B each producing 2,200kW and two 3,800kW Siemens asynchronous motors, the vessels can achieve a speed of 20 knots.