Two more Hamburg fireboats to be Schottel equipped

Branddirektor Westphal has three fire pumps that can spray up to 180 meters or to a height of up to 110 meters [Photo: Fassmer]Branddirektor Westphal has three fire pumps that can spray up to 180 meters or to a height of up to 110 meters [Photo: Fassmer]

Following the delivery of what was then hailed as Europe’s most modern fireboat, the Branddirektor Westphal, last year (see earlier story), the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) has ordered two more firefighting vessels.

While the Branddirektor Westphal was built by the Fassmer shipyard in Lower Saxony, the two new vessels are under construction at Damen Shipyards. However, as with the earlier vessel, both new fireboats will be fitted with Schottel thrusters – in this case, two Schottel Rudderpropellers and one Schottel Transverse Thruster. These will enable maximum maneuveraability in the restricted fairway of the Port of Hamburg.

The vessels will be operated by Flotte Hamburg, a wholly owned subsidiary of the HPA.

Each of the fireboats features two rudderpropellers type SRP 150 L FP (380 kW each) with a propeller diameter of 1.10 m and a transverse thruster type STT 60 FP (100 kW). Each of these is driven by an electric motor. The rudderpropellers type SRP 150 are equipped with Schottel’s new highly efficient SDC40 nozzle. This thruster configuration achieves a free running speed of 12 knots.

The two new vessels will primarily be used for fighting ship fires in the Port of Hamburg and for supplying fire-fighting water to industrial plants located at the port.

In addition, they will also be used for other HPA fleet management tasks, such as bridge inspections and material transports. They will have a water cannon capacity of 30,000 liters a minute over 110 m and have accommodations for 16 firefighters.

Both fire-fighting boats are to be delivered at the end of 2020 and will start service in the Port of Hamburg in 2021.