Damen to build fisheries research vessel for Germany

Ship wil be built in Damen's Galati, Romania, shipyard to Skipsteknisk design

MARCH 22, 2017 — Damen Shipyards Group has been won a contract to construct a fisheries research vessel for the German Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung, BLE).

The contract was awarded following an EU-wide tendering process,

To be called the Walther Herwig, the vessel will support Germany’s fisheries and oceanographic research programs. Measuring 85 m x 17.4 m, it will be the largest vessel in the ministry’s fleet and will accommodate 26 crew and 26 scientists.

In terms of scientific facilities and equipment, the vessel will be outfitted with two hangars, wet and dry laboratory areas and trawling gear for both demersal and pelagic fisheries research. For physical and biological oceanographic studies, the vessel’s scientific teams will be able to utilize electric winches capable of lowering equipment to depths of down to 6,000 m.

The Walther Herwig will be built at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania to a design that has been finalized in cooperation with Norwegian ship designers Skipsteknisk. The expected delivery is January 2020.

The ship will be operated by Thünen Institute headquartered in Braunschweig, and its home port will be Bremerhaven.

According to Skipsteknisk, the ship will be designed and built to meet the established ICES standard for underwater noise and will also fulfill the very strict requirements for interior noise and vibration. Low underwater noise is essential for optimal fish population measurements, interior noise is crucial that researchers should be able to have optimum working conditions on board.

To be built to Skipsteknisk’s ST-369L design, the vessel will feature diesel-electric propulsion and dynamic positioning. It has been designed with very strong emphasis on the reduction of environmentally harmful emissions and the ship will be fitted with catalysts and particulate filters.