NORDIC

Water ingresses into the ships body, an explosion happens aboard or the electrical stearing suddenly fails. These worst case situations can make a ship a aviarist. Large seagoing ships – so called emergency towing vessels – go on duty to avoid that an aviaristic emergency becomes no catastrophe. These specialised vessels are constructed in order to tow ships that are unable to manoeuvre, to avoid the aviarists drifting towards the coastal area. This effects as long as either the manoeuvrability can be guaranteed again or a salvage vessel takes over. Only three emergency towing vessels were on duty in the North Sea region earlier. In June 2006 the German Federal Ministery for Traffic, Civil Engineering and Urban Development (BMVBS) concluded to the building of a new one. The public tender followed worldwide, the contract was awarded to a working group, consisting of the three biggest German tug boat shipping companies. The new North Sea Emergency Towing Vessel NORDIC has been chartered to he BMVBS for 10 years. With her bollard pull of more than 200 tons and her maximum speed of 19.7 knots the NORDIC has replaced the MBS OCEANIC on 1st January 2011. She is not just working on a high-performance level but is also the first worldwide vessel that is able to rescue ships transporting toxical or explosive freights for being independent from outside-air. The book records the evolution of the NORDIC from the first decision by the BMVBS on to the commissioning, and illustrates the construction and the test run of this fascinating ship from a unique point of view. Due to the high demand we published the book also in English language.