One of Europe’s leading large-scale tanker shipping companies in coastal and inland shipping, Hamburg-based GEFO Gesellschaft für Oeltransporte mbH, has had an oil and product tanker from its fleet of 148 tankers serviced and modernised at the Strela Shiprepair Yard in Stralsund for the first time. The 99 metres long and 14 metres wide oil and product tanker “Brahms” was docked at Strela Shiprepair’s premises in the Volkswerft Maritime Industrial and Commercial Park at the end of May.
“We are delighted that we have been able to convince Hamburg-based shipping company GEFO, one of the leading fleet operators in the tanker segment, to use our shipyard,” says Jan Tebbe-Simmendinger, Managing Director of Strela Shiprepair Yard. Tankers such as those from GEFO are primarily used in European coastal waters. Strela Shiprepair therefore believes that the Stralsund shipyard is predestined to offer maintenance and repair services for larger tankers as well.
The “Brahms”, which has a cargo volume of 4,178 tonnes, was scheduled for the so-called intermediate class, meaning that extensive maintenance work had to be carried out in the shortest possible time during its stay at the shipyard. For example, all the sea valves were overhauled and the rudder and propeller systems were measured and checked. The programme also included checking, repairing and overhauling the numerous pump and tank lines. The service plan also included checking and cleaning the sea and anchor boxes as well as the anchor chain. Finally, the “Brahms” was given a new coat of paint.
Shiprepair Brahms
In addition to maintenance, a complete ballast water treatment system was installed on board for the first time. This environmentally friendly technology has been mandatory in international shipping for several years. “In the end, there was more work than originally planned within the short time frame, but we met the deadline in full,” says Patrick Micklei with pride. As Yard Operations Manager, he is responsible for the smooth running of the ship’s slipway.
In the first half of 2024, a total of 23 ships were docked at Strela Shiprepair Yard, including coasters, workboats, offshore vessels as well as specialised and passenger ships. This continues the successful trend from the previous year with a total of 40 docked units. Thanks to the ship repair capacities available at the Stralsund maritime business park, Strela Shiprepair is now one of the largest shipyards in this sector on the German coast. Repair and maintenance work is mostly carried out in the steel sector, mechanical engineering and on propeller and shaft systems. In order to be able to cope with the diverse tasks and future growth, the shipyard is interested in further mechanical engineers and project managers with experience in the repair sector.
Strela Shiprepair GmbH was founded in April 2022 and started operations at the beginning of 2023. Strela Shiprepair Yard is located on the site of the former Volkswerft shipyard in Stralsund, now the Volkswerft Maritime Industrial and Commercial Park. The repair yard maintains and repairs a wide variety of ship types, including coasters, specialised and passenger ships and workboats. Among other things, the company has a ship lift, powerful crane and shipyard technology and a 720 metres shipyard quay with a crane capacity of over 100 tonnes. Strela Shiprepair currently employs 48 people.
Source: Strela Shiprepair