Hispania (ship, 1961)

**Hispania**
	The Hispania in Amsterdam
Ship data
flag	Germany
other ship names	Helvetia (until 2004);
Ship type	Cabin passenger ship
home port	Oberwesel
Owner	Vesalia Schiffahrt GmbH
Shipyard	Shipyard ; Christof Ruthof
Build number	1453
building-costs	5.1 million DM
Order	August 29, 1960
Keel laying	September 1960
Launch	May 9, 1961
takeover	June 21, 1961
Commissioning	5th July 1961
Whereabouts	Hotel ship
Ship dimensions and crew
length	93.20 m ( Lüa )
width	11.60 m
Draft	Max. 1.45 m
displacement	830 t
Machine system
machine	4 × Deutz FM716 , each 312 kW
Machine ; performance	1,248 kW (1,697 hp)
propeller	2 × VSP Gr. 20 E / 100; 1 × Schottel STT 103-LK- ; ( bow thruster )
Transport capacities
Load capacity	130 dw
Permitted number of passengers	144 (72 cabins)
Others
Registration ; numbers	* Europe no .: 4200210 (1975–1993) Europe no .: 7001641 (1998-2005); Europe no .: 4804450 (2005-2007); ENI no. : 04804450;

The Hispania is a cabin passenger ship built in 1960/61 by Vesalia Schiffahrt GmbH in Oberwesel , which has been using it as a hotel ship under its own management in Eemshaven near Eemsmond , the Netherlands, since the beginning of 2011 . The ship was called Helvetia from 1961 to 2004 for the Cologne-Düsseldorfer and Viking River Cruises .

history

Construction and commissioning

After the operating group Kölnische und Düsseldorfer Gesellschaft für Rhein-Dampfschiffahrt had had their first river cruise ship with Europa since May 29, 1960 and had been able to gain their first experience, the Düsseldorf Gesellschaft für Rhein-Dampfschiffahrt placed an order on August 29, 1960 with the Shipyard Christof Ruthof in Mainz-Kastel the second, somewhat larger ship of this type. The keel was laid under construction number 1453 just a month later. The ship was launched on May 9 of the following year . The celebratory christening under the name Helvetia took place on May 30, 1961 in the presence of the then Federal Minister of Transport, Hans-Christoph Seebohm, in the shipyard. The godmother was Ursula Henkell, the wife of the DGMN supervisory board chairman Otto Henkell junior . The subsequent maiden voyage led from Mainz-Kastel to Lorch and back to Mainz . There took Helvetia to other guests of honor and then went to Strasbourg . From July 5, 1961, the joint venture began using them in scheduled traffic on the Basel - Rotterdam route . At the time of its commissioning, the ship was allowed to carry 200 cabin passengers or 1000 day passengers. The construction costs amounted to 5.1 million DM .

The time in the possession of the Cologne-Düsseldorf Deutsche Rheinschiffahrt AG

The Helvetia of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer

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. On February 23, 1968, the KD excursion ship Germany caught fire in Cologne's Rheinauhafen due to incorrectly performed welding work. The adjacent Helvetia was damaged on the port side wall. The repair work was carried out at the Christof Ruthof shipyard. From April 11, 1968, the ship was operational again. The ship, registered since December 16, 1975 under the official ship number 4200210, was used continuously in cruise service on the Rhine until the 1980 season. Only in 1974 she also sailed the Moselle . Due to insufficient passenger volume, the Cologne-Düsseldorfer did not use the Helvetia, which was in need of renovation, in the 1981 season and temporarily shut it down in the Cologne-Niehl port . In the winter of 1981/82 the ship received a completely new interior design at the Meiderich shipyard as part of a major overhaul. From the 1982 season, the ship was used again in the old sailing area. On June 28, 1983, during a mooring in Mannheim , a fire broke out in the engine room that could be extinguished by the company's own personnel. The shipping company commissioned the De Hoop shipyard in Lobith to repair the fire damage . It was operational again from July 23, 1983. From December 8, 1993, the Hoogedoorn Timmerbedrijf in Werkendam completely redesigned the ship. Among other things, the number of cabins was reduced to 69, the floor-to-ceiling window front of the viewing salon was extended to the entrance area and the swimming pool on the sun deck was removed. As a replacement, they built a whirlpool on the lower deck. After this measure, it could only accommodate 153 cabin passengers. The renovation costs were around DM 3.5 million.

From the sale to Triton AG until today

Rear view

On 18 March 1994 sold Cologne-Düsseldorf the Helvetia for 6.5 Mio.DM to the shipping company Triton Reisen AG in Basel , but it secured a right of first refusal for resale to. On the transfer trip to the press launch planned in Basel on April 7th, fuel leaked through a leaky feed line to the front port motor. This ignited when the ship was in the Gerstheim lock . The Helvetia was heavily damaged by the fire. On the same day it was towed to the Karcher shipyard in Rheinau-Freistett for repairs. The repair costs were 950,000 DM. On May 16, 1994 Helvetia was registered in the Basel shipping register with the Europe no. 7001641 registered. One day later, the ship, managed by Triton AG, was used for trips that were marketed by Köln-Düsseldorfer. After the shipping company went bankrupt, KD-Deutsche Flusskreuzfahrten GmbH ( KD DF ) took over Helvetia in 1998 . When Premicon AG became the main shareholder of Köln-Düsseldorfer on March 9, 2000 , Viking River Cruises took over the company's river cruise business, including all ships used there. The new owner used them until the 2004 summer season on the Amsterdam – Basel route. When the new cabin passenger ship Viking Sun went into operation , the Helvetia was shut down and then sold to the Boonstra River Line in Kampen . The new owner named the ship Hispania and registered it via Klaus Sahr GmbH from Oberwesel with the Europe no. 4804450. The Hispania was then used for various tour operators in the Voyage charter on the Rhine and Moselle. In 2008 Vesalia Schiffahrt GmbH (a subsidiary of Klaus Sahr GmbH ) took over Hispania . She mainly uses the navigable ship as a hotel ship . It has been located in Eemshaven since the beginning of 2011 , where it serves as accommodation for workers involved in the construction of wind turbines in the Wadden Sea . It is not known whether the ship will be used again in river cruise traffic. From mid-November 2012, the ship was to be used to accommodate asylum seekers in Basel. Due to technical difficulties, however, the ship could not be transferred on time, so that the order was canceled on November 8, 2012.

technology

The Hispania is supported by four 12-cylinder Diesel engines of Deutz , type FM716 à 312 kW two Voith-Schneider drive , type E / 100, size 24 is driven. The Schottel bow thruster , type STT 103-LK, which was retrofitted in 1983 has an electric drive with 110 kW. The ship is 93.20 m long and 11.60 m wide. The maximum draft is given as 1.45 m.

literature

Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004 , self-published, Marienhausen 2004, ISBN 3-00-016046-9
Stephan Nuding: 175 years of Cologne-Düsseldorf Rhine Shipping Company. A historical representation in pictures and text. Schardt, Oldenburg 2001, ISBN 3-89841-035-8 .

Web links

Commons : Hispania (ship) - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

^ Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004 , self-published, Cologne 2004, p. 719 with reference to the ship's certificate of June 21, 1961
↑ Official ship certificate dated February 22, 1994
^ Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004 , self-published, Cologne 2004, p. 720 and 721
^ Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004 , self-published, Cologne 2004, p. 722 and 723
↑ Entry on Hispania in the Dutch inland waterway database on www.debinnenvaart.nl
↑ Article from October 2, 2012 on Blick.ch .: Basel sends asylum seekers on board , accessed on October 2, 2012
↑ Media release Basel Stadt from November 8, 2012
^ Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004 , self-published, Cologne 2004, p. 719ff