Berlin (ship, 1959)

Berlin

The Berlin in Bonn-Bad Godesberg

Ship data flag  Germany Netherlands   other ship names Tourmalijn (from 2006) River ZZ (2011) Ship type Passenger ship home port Cologne Owner Cologne-Düsseldorf German Rhine Shipping Shipyard Cologne shipyard, Ewald Berninghaus Build number 777 building-costs 3.3 million DM Keel laying October 1, 1958 Launch April 1959 takeover May 9, 1959 Commissioning May 16, 1959 Decommissioning September 9, 2011 Removal from the ship register January 2012 Whereabouts Destroyed by fire in 2011

Ship dimensions and crew length 88.55 m ( Lüa ) width 9.00 m above sea level VSP extensions: 15.50 m Draft Max. 1.39 m displacement 614  t

Machine system machine 2 × Deutz SBV6M536, each with 634 kW Machine performance 1,268 kW (1,724 hp) Top speed 12.5 kn (23 km / h) propeller 2 × VSP Gr. 20 E / 110

Transport capacities Load capacity 225 dw Permitted number of passengers 1,763

Others Registration numbers * ENI no. : 02329184 Europe no .: 4200260, (as Berlin )

The Berlin was a passenger ship built in 1958/59 for the Steamship Company for the Lower and Middle Rhine ( DGNM ) , which was used by the Cologne-Düsseldorf Deutsche Rheinschiffahrt in scheduled service on the Rhine until 2003 . She was the first of a total of four large-capacity ships with Voith-Schneider side drive that were commissioned by KD. The drive configuration was similar to that of the older paddle-wheel steamer , with the Voith-Schneider propellers being attached to characteristic projecting side boxes on the ship's hull. The Berlin followed in 1961 Germany , 1963, the Loreley and 1967, the Rhine . Each of the other ships was slightly larger than its predecessor.

After the sale to the Dutch Princess Services BV in Dordrecht , she was converted into an event ship and used under the name Tourmalijn for special and event cruises until 2010. Shortly after it was sold on to RiverZZ Events BV and renamed River ZZ , it burned out completely on September 9, 2011 near the Erasmus Bridge on the Nieuwe Maas in Rotterdam , so that it had to be scrapped in early 2012.

history

Owned by the Steamship Company for the Lower and Middle Rhine

The Berlin of the KD in 1982

As a replacement for the paddle steamer Kaiser-Wilhelm , which was decommissioned in 1957 , the steamship company for the Lower and Middle Rhine ordered a contemporary large-capacity passenger ship with three passenger decks for the operating group at the Cologne shipyard, Ewald Berninghaus, which was run with the Preußisch-Rheinische Dampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft . In cooperation with the shipping company, the drive manufacturer Voith and the shipyard, the Research Institute for Inland Shipping in Duisburg carried out tests with ship models from November 1957 to January 1958. After a construction plan and a drive concept were drawn up based on the knowledge gained, the keel of the ship to be built under construction number 777 was laid on October 1, 1958. The first launch took place on February 3, 1959 - this was only necessary to crane the machines. The ship was then pulled back onto the slipway . The official launch took place in April. After completion of the remaining work, the acceptance test took place on May 9, 1959 on the route from Uerdingen to Cologne. On May 14th, Rut Brandt , the wife of the then ruling mayor of Berlin Willy Brandt , baptized the ship in Mainz with the name Berlin . The subsequent twelve-hour maiden voyage led to Düsseldorf . The Berlin was approved for 3000 passengers at the time of commissioning, making it the ship with the highest passenger approval on European inland waters at the time.

From May 16, 1959, Berlin took over planned trips and excursions on the Rhine. Since it was the most modern ship in the fleet, the shipping company also used it for special trips with high public profile in the first few years of operation. On May 9, 1961, the candidate for Chancellor Willy Brandt took the ship from Bingen am Rhein to Neuwied during the election campaign phase . In the same month, the Togolese President Sylvanus Olympio was on board for a festival voyage as part of his state visit. With the commissioning of the Deutschland on May 20, 1961, these representative missions for Berlin ended . During a stay in the shipyard in the winter of 1963, the open aft deck was built over on the main deck . The open aft deck of the upper deck could be expanded to include the newly created roof area.

Owned by Cologne-Düsseldorf Deutsche Rheinschiffahrt

On the road in Bad Breisig (1977)

On May 16, 1967, the DGMN and the Preußisch-Rheinische Dampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft merged to form the Cologne-Düsseldorfer Deutsche Rheinschiffahrt AG . Ownership of all ships of the two companies was transferred to the new company. Although the Berlin was spared from accidents during its entire service life with the Cologne-Düsseldorfer , from 1969 long-term stays in the shipyard have been recorded almost every year since the Voith-Schneider drives and the 6-cylinder engines were very maintenance-sensitive. On December 16, 1975, the ship was assigned the official European number 4200260. In the winter months from 1980 to 1982 the ship received a modernization of the entire interior. At the Cologne shipyard in 1982 the rowing chair was equipped with new technology and a radar system was installed. For tax reasons, passenger admission was reduced to 1,763 people for the 1990 season.

In 2003, the shipping company decided not to use Berlin any more in the following year, as the planned discontinuation of the Bonn – Neuwied – Bonn route released a surplus ship that could then be decommissioned. The Berlin was chosen because she was the ship with the highest running costs. The annual maintenance costs came to 200,000 euros in the end. On October 19, 2003, the Berlin was used for the last time in scheduled service on a journey from Cologne to Linz. The shipping company then decommissioned the ship in the Niehl I port of Cologne . In December 2006 the ship was sold to the Netherlands at a price of 190,000 euros

Used as an event ship in the Netherlands

The Tourmalijn in Rotterdam

The burnt out RiverZZ on September 12, 2011 in Rotterdam

In Tourmalijn renamed it was converted into a program ship with variable banquet facilities and theaters. The ship was in Rotterdam with the ENI no. 02329184 registered. She was marketed as the largest party ship in Europe from 2007 and could be rented for events of all kinds. RiverZZ Events BV took over the ship in early 2011 . After renovation work on the ship's hull and interior renovation, on September 4, 2011 at the Eva Cohen-Hartogkade pier in Rotterdam, the ceremonial re-commissioning took place with the renaming to RiverZZ . On September 9, 2011, a fire broke out on the ship. The fire could be brought under control quickly, but the damage was so great that the ship had to be written off as a total loss. Passengers were not on board at the time of the fire. The River ZZ was scrapped at Nederland BV in 's-Gravendeel in early 2012 .

Construction and technology

The Berlin was constructed as a monohull with three decks , a pointed bow, slightly flared straight stern and a transom stern. The fuselage consists of welded steel plates on frames . The upper deck , which was closed off at the bow and aft with large sundecks, had a promenade deck- like walkway that was open on both sides of the superstructure and secured with a railing . The non-retractable rowing chair was placed in the middle of the ship on the upper deck.

The drive is provided with two 6-cylinder Diesel engines of the type Deutz SBV6M536 with an output of 634  kW , each having a four-bladed on Voith-Schneider drive act. The overall length is given as 88.55 m. The width on the frames is 9.00 m, the width over the wheel arches 15.50 m.

literature

• Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004 , self-published, Marienhausen 2004, ISBN 3-00-016046-9
• Dieter Schubert German inland passenger ships Illustrated ship register Uwe Welz Verlag Berlin 2000 / ISBN 3-933177-10-3 , page 66/67

Web links

Commons : Berlin  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Owner's website about the Tourmalijn (Dutch)
• YouTube video about the conversion of Berlin to Tourmalijn (Dutch)

Footnotes

1. ^ Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004, self-published, Marienhausen 2004, p. 695 and 696.
2. ↑ Cologne Ship Investigation Commission: Official ship certificate from May 5, 1959 . Quoted from Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004 , p. 696.
3. ^ Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Köln-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004 , self-published, Marienhausen 2004, p. 696
4. ^ Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004 , self-published, Marienhausen 2004, p. 697 to 699
5. ^ Ship investigation commission Duisburg: Official ship certificate of April 11, 1990 . Quoted from Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826–2004 , p. 698
6. ↑ Annual Report 2004 according to IFRS of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer, page 10 (PDF file 8.21 MB) ( Memento of the original from May 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed May 13, 2011  
7. ↑ Annual Report 2003 according to IFRS of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer, page 18 (PDF file 1.36 MB) ( Memento of the original from May 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed May 13, 2011  
8. ↑ Annual report 2006 according to IFRS of Cologne-Düsseldorfer, page 4 (PDF file 6.8 MB) ( Memento of the original from May 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed August 25, 2012 
9. ↑ Report on ESYS - Maritime Emergencies Archive September 2011, message from September 10th: Europe's largest event ship destroyed by conflagration , accessed on December 30th, 2011