The Belvedere passenger ship is the first new ship to be built by the traditional company Weisse Flotte Potsdam in the Brandenburg state capital Potsdam after privatization in 2000. The keel was laid on December 6, 2005 in an assembly hall of a steel construction company in Parey, directly on the Elbe-Havel Canal . The shipyard, Schiffswerft Bolle GmbH, did not yet have a shipbuilding hall of this size. The watering of the hull was carried out on March 30, 2006 in a rather unconventional way using a heavy lift crane. The entire expansion took place in the nearby shipyard on the Pareyer connecting canal . After testing and transfer, the ship was christened on May 21, 2006 in Potsdam in the name of Belvedere by the wife of the former Prime Minister of Brandenburg Matthias Platzeck , the administrative specialist Jeanette Jesorka.
The first ship with the name Belvedere was built in 1985 in the Berlin-Köpenick shipyard . This passenger ship was built as part of a large series of Type III in the extended version. In 2005 it was sold to Berlin to the company Wassersport- und Service GmbH Köpenick. There it continues as the Belvedere with its home port in Berlin. Reasons for the sale were, among other things, the low space capacity and the high maintenance costs. The name, steeped in history, was reserved at an early stage for the later planned new building.
After the consolidation in the market, a new building for the White Fleet could be considered for the first time. In 2005, the ships carried more than two hundred thousand passengers a year for the first time since privatization. In autumn 2005 the first new building was laid down in 15 years. In order to achieve a certain unique selling point compared to the large number of passenger ships on the waters in the Potsdam / Berlin area, a special yacht-like look was chosen.
The ship
With a length of almost 41 meters and a ship width of 6.5 meters, the modern ship can navigate almost all of the region's smaller bodies of water, such as the Griebnitz Canal. The shallow draft of only 1.15 meters enables the planned routes to be adhered to even when the water level is low and also enables trips on the Elbe to visit the Magdeburg waterway intersection . The ship is approved for 250 passengers. In the fully air-conditioned interior there is seating for 160 people. There are also 160 seats outside on the upper deck. The Belvedere is driven by a six-cylinder V-engine from Deutz AG via a Schottel rudder propeller . A generator powered by a diesel engine, also from Deutz, is available on board to provide power. Another unit was installed in a separate, small machine room for the emergency power supply and for driving an additional rescue and fire extinguishing pump. An electric bow thruster improves maneuverability. A galley, a counter area and a service team are available for passenger care, depending on the number of guests and the route area, to provide catering for the passengers.
literature
Dieter Schubert: German inland passenger ships. Illustrated register of ships. Uwe Welz Verlag Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-933177-10-3