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SMM • Germany Report Precision Ship-Handling Writ Large Story and Photos by Alan Haig-Brown On the Elbe River, the famous port of Hamburg's Nautical Institute had its final intake this year due to a shortage of prospective students. From now on it will be known as the Hamburg Institute for Ship Handling and Simulation, but for many years it sent highly trained young people to sea. Some of those, after gaining years of deep sea experi- ence, returned to Hamburg to become river and docking pilots. The Port has two pilot stations and two pilotage authorities. The Harbor Pilots (Hafenlot- senbriiiiderschaft), of which there are about 45, work from a beautiful brick building complete with clock tower on a point at the entrance to the port on the south side of the river where most of the docks are located. The river pilots' asso- ciation (Lotsenbriiderschaft Elbe), which includes the sea pilots and has about 240 members, are located just down and across the river in a large house barely distinguishable from its luxurious neighbors in the tonier part of this very beautiful city. Entering the Hanseatic port of Ham- burg from the sea is a three-stage propo- sition. As the ships come into the Ger- man Bight from the North Sea, they con- tact a pilot from the sea station, which is the recently launched 164 x 74-ft. (49.9 x 22.5-m) SWATH station ship Elbe. The pilots are boarded from a (7.5-m) pilot boat or a (25-m) version of the SWATH that has effectively done away with the need for and use of helicopters for boarding unless specifically request- ed by the ship. Forty n.m. from the pilot ship and just inside the estuary, on the north shore where the Kiel Canal con- nects from the Baltic Sea, a pilot boat brings a river pilot out to exchange places with the sea pilot. This pilot then takes the ship the remaining 36 miles on up the river to the port entrance where one or more docking pilots take over. Out bound the reverse order is fol- lowed. Just ahead of the Easter weekend last March 27, one of the harbor pilots handed the 3,764 teu containership Teng He over to river pilot Capt. Jens Heesch. who had boarded from a launch in front of the River Pilot station. Although the port is 60 miles from the North Sea some parts of it are below sea level. With 15-ft. tides common, the river typically reverses its flow to over three knots on a flood tide. A strong westerly blowing in from the North Sea can add another six feet to these tides and frequently threatens flooding in the lower port areas. On this March after- noon with the full moon just one day away, the tide is flooding just under two knots and the ship is making 12.2 knots over the bottom as it heads down river. The north shore, with its sumptuous homes, many of which were built over the centuries by Hamburg shipping mag- nates, is lined with swimming beaches and marinas, both of which require the Hanjin Praha's Captain Jens Urohn stands between hamburg docking pilots Jan Venghaus and Kai Supper. photo credit: Alan Haig-Brown Docking pilots station in the Port of Hamburg. photo credit: Alan Haig-Brown pilots' care. Especially the swimming beaches in summer, says Heesch, as the ship's effect in surging and sucking water off the beach can cause a danger- ous situation. It requires precision to move a large ship through water while allowing for the presence of a fragile human body in the same system. Oppo- site the huge Airbus fabrication facility on the south shore, Capt. Heesch calls the Port of Hamburg vessel traffic man- ager center located in the Harbor Pilot's building, to report that he is leaving the port's jurisdictional area. Then he checks in with the Brunsbiittel Vessel Traffic System which is operated from a state- of-the-art facility at the mouth of the Kiel Canal Brunsbiittel reports on the river traffic as Heesch brings the Teng He on course with the aide of the first of a series of leading or range lights that aide ships in maintaining mid channel for the whole length of the lower river. Also on this stretch of the river at the lower end of Hamburg's residential sub- urbs, is the restaurant Schulauer Fahrhaus where a maritime flag pole displays a Chinese flag and huge loud speakers play the Chinese national anthem to honor the registry of the Teng He. The COSCO Container Line vessel's Captain Yang Renzhong walks out on the starboard bridge wing to wave his appreciation of the gesture. "Sometimes the captains show a little tear," says Heesch of the tradition marking a ship's entrance and exit from Hamburg. With a number of years in deep sea service himself, Heesch is sympathetic to the emotions of the visiting captains. Following his sea duty, he has been 18 years in the Elbe pilotage, with all but the last of those spent as a sea pilot. Most of the pilots working in the river between Hamburg and Brunsbiittel have spent time in the physically more demanding leg in from the German Bight. Typically new pilots train for both the sea leg and the estuary but then start at sea. When they make the move inside, the pilots take an update to the training for the transition to the river. An hour after leaving the Port of Ham- burg controlled area, the Teng He passes a Dow Chemical plant that takes advan- tage of huge reserves of underground salt in the area. This is one of the few shipping docks on the lower river. Once clear of the plant, Heesch asks for anoth- er 10 revolutions on the main engine to bring the ship up to its 16-knot maneu- ver speed. The river is widening now but the navigation channel is maintained at a 820 x 989-ft. (250 to 300-m) width from Hamburg to Brunsbiittel with the depth dredged in a few spots as required to maintain a 114-ft. (14.4-m) low water depth allowing a 42-ft. (12.8-m) maxi- mum ship draft on low water and 49-ft. (15.1-m) draft on high water. With the tide still flooding and the Teng He draw- ing 37 ft. (11.3 m), Heesch keeps the speed in check to avoid any possibility of "squat" as the ship passes over some 34 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News
