Shipbuilder Abeking and Rasmussen has had its second 60-metre SWATH pilot station ship 'Weser' christened in Bremerhaven, Germany.
This 60.4- by 24.6-metre vessel, reaching speeds of 13 knots, is similar to the pilot station ship 'Elbe', which was handed over to its owner on February 1, 2010. After a Europe-wide tender in July 2006, Abeking and Rasmussen was awarded the contract to construct and supply both fully operational vessels for the Waterways and Shipping Directorates North (Kiel) and Northwest (Aurich) by the Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute (Bundesanstalt für Wasserbau) in April 2007.
The latest vessel is replacing its ageing 40-year-old predecessors ('Gotthilf Hagen' and 'Kapitän König'). Pilots on the Elbe and Weser rivers are currently using the 10-year-old 50-metre pilot station ship 'Hanse' (formerly known as 'Elbe').
"This is already the eleventh ship of this type to be built and delivered. Most of the vessels perform their duties in the North Sea for German and Dutch pilots. Therefore most of the important seaport in the North Sea will be served by the SWATH@A&R vessels as an economic boarding system for sea pilots," said Abeking and Rasmussen in statement.
The Belgian pilots have also recently opted for this system and ordered three 25-metre tenders and a 60-metre station ship.