Type EGF-321
 The Mukran 1986
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The type EGF-321 is a class of rail freight ferries from the Mathias Thesen shipyard in Wismar . Five of them were built between 1984 and 1989 for the Mukran – Klaipėda ferry route. When they were delivered, they were the largest railway ferries in the world and are the largest ships built in the GDR.
history
Part of the establishment of the ferry connection between the GDR and the USSR in the 1980s was the construction of six new railway ferries, three of which for each country. These were designed as pure rail freight ferries, the transport of road vehicles and passengers was not intended. The construction with two continuous railway decks was based on the ships that were in use on the ferry line between Illichivsk and Varna in the Black Sea . However, the installation of an elevator for railroad cars was dispensed with, instead the loading and unloading of the two decks takes place via a landside double-decker ramp, which significantly reduces the time required. The travel time was planned to be 18 to 20 hours in each direction, the port lay time of only four hours. Because of the higher transport capacity, the railroad decks were equipped with Russian broad gauge tracks. The ferries should also be able to be used on routes in the Black Sea. The transport of military equipment and soldiers was planned, but only a ventilated hold with very simple sanitary facilities was provided to accommodate them. The slipway at the shipyard in Wismar had to be enlarged for the construction of the ships.
The construction of the ferries began on October 2, 1984 and ended with the handover of the fifth ship in October 1989. After even thinking about building a seventh ferry ( German-Soviet friendship ) during the construction period , the decision was made in June 1988, to suspend the construction of the sixth ferry ( Wismar ) because the planned transport volume was not achieved. The ferries were operated by VEB Deutfracht / Seereederei Rostock and Litovskoye Morskoye Parochodstvo (Lithuanian Maritime Company ) Klaipėda. They were then the largest rail ferries in the world, which led to an entry in the Guinness Book of Records .
With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the political changes in Europe from 1989, ferry traffic on the route declined significantly. Only the withdrawal of the Soviet and Russian armed forces from 1990 to 1994 increased the utilization of the line again.
The ships were therefore used on other lines. They were converted accordingly for the transport of road vehicles and passengers. All ships were given ro-ro ramps and a ramp in the ship so that road vehicles could be loaded and unloaded in all ports, and the deckhouses were enlarged. All five ferries are still in use today. Three ships are currently sailing on ferry routes in the Black Sea for Ukrferry and one ship is used in the Red Sea . The original Mukran is to be used in the future to produce drinking water.
Furnishing
The overall length is 190.5 meters, the length between the perpendiculars 173 meters, the width 28 meters and the maximum draft 7.20 meters. The side height is 15.2 meters. The ships were initially measured at around 22,000 GRT . The ships are divided into twelve watertight compartments by eleven transverse bulkheads extending from the bottom of the ship to the main deck .
Four diesel engines, each with an output of 3,660 hp, drive two variable-pitch propellers via a gearbox . The ships reach a cruising speed of 16.6 knots . Two transverse thruster control systems in the bow with 740 kW each and one in the stern with 370 kW of power ensure good maneuverability.
There are five Russian broad gauge tracks on each of the two vehicle decks , which means that freight capacity is 35 percent higher than that of standard gauge wagons. The total usable track length was 1,539 meters. With a length of a Russian standard car of 14.73 meters, 103 freight cars can be carried. There are 49 cars on the main deck and 54 cars on the partially open upper deck.
Both decks are loaded and unloaded via landside double-decker bridges, as there are no on-board lifting platforms on the ships. An automatic heel compensation system located amidships ensures a relatively stable position of the ships during the loading process and serves to dampen roll movements at sea . The tailgate is 18.4 m wide and 5.9 m high and is hoisted up to 6 m above the upper deck for loading and unloading. The ferries have to turn around to moor in the port area and approach the ferry bridge with the stern. Unloading takes place first on the upper deck, with the outer tracks being unloaded at the same time. Loading takes place in reverse order.
The ships were operated by VEB Deutfracht / Seereederei Rostock and Litovskoye Morskoye Parochodstvo with a crew of 42 who were accommodated in individual cabins. Twelve guests could be transported in six two-man cabins.
The ferries
| Build number | previous names | previous flags | IMO number | Keel laying | Launch | handing over | current area of application |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 321 | Mukran Petersburg / Петербург Odeep One |
 German Democratic Republic of Germany Liberia Russia Panama   
|
8311883 | March 1, 1985 | August 27, 1985 | August 27, 1986 | Mediterranean Sea |
| 322 | Клайпеда / Klaypeda / Klaipėda / Klaipeda Celtic Mist Saronic Star Tulip Ruzgar Aziz Express |
 Soviet Union Lithuania Cyprus Malta Comoros Saudi Arabia    
|
8311895 | July 15, 1986 | November 26, 1986 | June 27, 1987 | Red Sea |
| 323 | Вильнюс / Vilnyus / Vilnius Vilnius Seaways Vilnius |
Soviet Union Lithuania Panama
|
8311900 | April 16, 1987 | October 30, 1987 | Black Sea | |
| 324 | Greifswald |
German Democratic Republic of Germany Liberia Georgia Panama 
|
8311912 | May 31, 1988 | November 25, 1988 | Black Sea | |
| 325 | Каунас / Kaunas Kaunas Seaways Kaunas |
Soviet Union Lithuania Panama
|
8311924 | January 30, 1989 | May 13, 1989 | October 20, 1989 | Black Sea |
Mukran
The first ferry of the series was laid down on March 1, 1985 with the hull number 321. It was launched on August 27, 1985. It was baptized in the name of the new Mukran ferry port near Saßnitz . The first trips took place in April 1986, the handover to the Deutfracht / Seereederei Rostock was on August 27, 1986. In 1995 it was rebuilt, sold and was used under the new name Petersburg on the first German ferry connection between Travemünde and Saint Petersburg. In the meantime chartered to transport military equipment in the Adriatic Sea, the ship sailed on various lines in the Baltic Sea before it was temporarily launched from 2009 to 2010. Apart from deployments in the Black Sea in 2014, the Petersburg was then again in service as a ferry in the Baltic Sea, until it was registered again in Panama in 2019, rebuilt and in service in the Mediterranean as Odeep One for the extraction and bottling of seawater from greater depths was brought.
Klaypeda
The second ferry (hull number 322) was laid down on July 15, 1986. It was launched on November 26, 1986, when it was baptized in the name of the Lithuanian port city of Klaipėda (Cyrillic Клайпеда), which became its home port. The first trips took place in May 1987 before it was handed over to the Litovskoye Morskoye Parochodstvo on June 27, 1987 . From 2001 the shipping company was called LISCO Baltic Service , from 2006 DFDS LISCO . The last operation on the Mukran – Klaipėda line was on June 30, 2006.
In June 2006 it was renamed Celtic Mist and sold. From March 2007 it was used on the Portsmouth – Cherbourg route and in the same year between Barcelona, Valencia and Palma de Mallorca . It was renamed Saronic Star in November 2007 and Tulip in October 2010 . The area of operation was still the Mediterranean. In January 2011 the name was changed to Ruzgar and it was used between Brindisi and Igoumenitsa . Further stops were the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Since the beginning of 2019 it has been operating in the Red Sea under the name Aziz Express .
Vilnyus
The third ship (hull number 323), which was launched on April 16, 1987, was baptized in the name of the Lithuanian capital Vilnius (Cyrillic Вильнюс). From November 1987 it was used on the Mukran-Klaipėda line. In 1993 the ferry was rebuilt and then drove on the routes Klaipėda – Kiel, Riga – Travemünde and Mukran – Baltijsk.
In January 2011 the ship was renamed Vilnius Seaways and used between Kiel and Ust-Luga. Since July 2013 she has been sailing for Ukrferry in the Black Sea. In summer 2018, DFDS was sold to Ukferry. Since then it has been called Vilnius again .
Greifswald
On May 31, 1988, the fourth ferry (hull number 324) was launched and was baptized in the name of the city of Greifswald . It was handed over to the DSR on November 25, 1988, and then it was used on the Mukran – Klaipėda line. Unlike the other ferries, the bridge nocks were built closed. In 1994 it was rebuilt and from January 1997 it was also used on the Travemünde-Klaipėda route. Other routes were Kiel – Klaipėda, Aarhus – Halmstad and Kiel – St. Petersburg. She has been working for Ukrferry in the Black Sea since 2003 .
Kaunas
The fifth ferry (hull number 325) was laid down on January 30, 1989. Launched on May 13, 1989, it was baptized in the name of the Lithuanian city of Kaunas (Cyrillic Каунас). Handover to LISCO was on October 20, 1989, after which it was deployed between Mukran and Klaipėda. In 1993 it was rebuilt, other lines of operations were Klaipėda – Kiel, Karlshamn – Klaipėda – Gdańsk, Travemünde – Riga, Liepaja – Travemünde, Paldiski – Kapellskär and Kiel – Ust-Luga.
As of May 2012 the ship was called Kaunas Seaways . It was still in use on the routes mentioned, until 2014 it came regularly from Ust-Luga and Baltijsk to Sassnitz / Mukran. It transported segments from Mukran to Copenhagen for the construction of the Copenhagen Metro . From July 2015 it will be used for Ukrferry in the Black Sea. In summer 2018, DFDS was sold to Ukferry. It has since been back to its original name. In summer 2019, she briefly commuted for Aegean Seaways between Lavrion in Greece and Çeşme in Turkey .
literature
- Wolfgang Klietz: Baltic ferries in the Cold War . Links Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-86153-673-4 .
Web links
- Rail freight ferry type EGF-321 at Seeleute Rostock eV .
- Проект EGF 321 (Германия), тип Mukran on fleetphoto.ru (Russian)
- M / S MUKRAN at Fakta om Fartyg (Swedish)
- M / S KLAYPEDA at Fakta om Fartyg (Swedish)
- M / S VILNIUS at Fakta om Fartyg (Swedish)
- M / S GREIFSWALD at Fakta om Fartyg (Swedish)
- M / S KAUNAS at Fakta om Fartyg (Swedish)
- Website of Ukrferry (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Rail freight ferry type EGF-321. In: seeleute-rostock.de. Retrieved October 15, 2017 .
- ^ OFW Ships
- ↑ a b DFDS sells RoPax ferries to Ukrferry
- ^ Aegean Seaways