Erwin Strahlmann, 57 not out (part 2)

Coastal Shipping

The Jumper at Medina Wharf, Cowes, on 25 March 1999. (Brian Ralfs)

The Boklum was photographed as she passed through Barge Dock in Goole. (Malcolm Slater)

Only recently renamed from Dredger, the Defender loads scrap at King's Lynn on 13 October. (Darren Green)

The Dornum at Sutton Bridge on 2 June 2002. (David Dixon)

The Wirdum at Kiel's Nordhafen on 10 July 2004. (Ron Wood)

In the last issue, we briefly outlined the rise and rise of Erwin Strahlmann's fleet. This time I intended to provide a full fleet list but at almost sixty vessels, there are just too many for one issue. Instead we will concentrate on some of the numerically larger classes in the fleet and leave the rest for later.

Damen Combi Coaster 125

Strahlmann's first venture into ownership, fifteen years ago, resulted in him becoming part owner of the Borsteler Berg. She had been laid down in May 1986 and her hull completed for Damen by IHC Holland NV Beaver Dredgers at Sliedrecht as their yard number 10294. She was eventually completed by Damen at Gorinchem in June 1989 and delivered to Herr Strahlmann and his partners. The Damen Shipyard at Gorinchem specialises in building tugs and workboats but in the mid-1980s, the company successfully moved into the coastal dry cargo business with the 'Combi Coaster 125' design. Using the same production method as with the smaller vessels, hulls were built for stock and not as a result of firm orders. This allowed the company to offer prospective owners much earlier delivery and allowed the yard to plan production much more efficiently than is the case with the stop-start production found in conventional yards. The drawback of the system is that the yard can be left with unfinished stock vessels which can cause financing problems.

Clearly the production techniques worked as Damen has since expanded considerably and now builds coasters at several locations, usually using hulls built in Poland or Romania. The 'Combi Coaster 125' proved to be a great success and Strahlmann now operates nine of the 26 ships built. Although the ships are very similar, there are a number of minor variations to the design. Damen allocates yard numbers according to the vessel class and all these vessels have yard numbers in the 82 series. Yard numbers are not consecutive. Many of the ships were built with a lowering bridge reducing air draught to 8,80 metres but some have fixed bridges and a greater air draught of 10,3 metres. At over 3000 dwt and at a designed fully laden draught of 4,7 metres, the vessels are not often used for inland voyages but most are Rhine fitted and can trade to Duisburg. Nine of these ships now form a substantial part of the Strahlmann fleet. Most joined as a result of the purchase of the Bockstiegel operation and these ships have retained their Bockstiegel names. The Borsteler Berg has been renamed Bounder in the Strahlmann naming system and Karibu was renamed Jumper on joining the fleet.

Peters. Wewelsfleth - Saimaa Class

This very large and successful class from Peters was featured in Coastal Shipping in April and August 1998. Since then, nine have been purchased by Strahlmann along with two smaller but very similar ships from the Wewelsfleth yard. Cargoes for these vessels are arranged by Echoship of Svendborg and they tend to trade mainly to the Baltic with regular voyages along the Saimaa canal system. The fleet list below updates the Information in the earlier articles for the Strahlmann-owned ships. Of note is the recent renaming of Dredger to Defender, perhaps her earlier name had led to confusion when moving in and out of port.

Rosslauer Schiffswerft GmbH. Rosslau - 1600 Type

Soon after the reunification of Germany, Bockstiegel ordered five 1600dwt low air draught vessels from the Rosslau shipyard on the upper Elbe. All five were sold en bloc to Strahlmann and continue to sail under their Bockstiegel names. If you are wondering where the names come from, they are all named after villages in the Emden area, close to Bockstiegel's base at Emden and Strahlmann's home at Marne.

SLK Slovenske Lodenice Komarno - Rhein Class

Strahlmann has described this class as the best ships available at a good price at the present time and he has backed his assessment with orders for eleven of the ships. When all have been delivered by 2006, they will form the largest class in the fleet. The earlier history of the 'Rhein' class was dealt with in Coastal Shipping of February 2002. At the beginning of 2002 the yard was just recovering from bankruptcy brought on by the closure of the Danube to navigation and a number of partially-built ships were available having been rejected by their original owners as they could not be delivered. Strahlmann already owned one example of the class, the Wirdum dating from 1993, and he agreed to take the Gretchen Muller, Ortrud Muller and Rethi Muller whose construction had been delayed. These three had been laid down in 1998 but did not enter service until February 2003. A further four of the class have since joined the fleet and the remaining five are due to enter service in 2005. The new vessels feature a slightly modified superstructure with a fixed bridge but in all other respects the ships are identical to earlier vessels in the series. With over 50 of the ships in service, the 'Rhein' class has certainly made its mark in European waters.

Statistical comparison

Richard Potter

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