In a ceremony held in the Port of Hamburg, Damen handed over twin Fire-Fighting vessels to Flotte Hamburg, a subsidiary of the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) tasked with implementing low-emission shipping in the city. With 315 kWh of battery capacity, the state-of-the-art, plug-in hybrid vessels are capable of extended, fully-electric, emissions-free operations in and around the Port of Hamburg. Prag will be operated by Hamburg’s fire service while Dresden will support the HPA, the fire service and other third parties.

The vessels, classed as Damen Fire-Fighting Vessels 3508, are completely new designs fitted out to the latest standards. 35.5 metres in length and with a maximum speed of 12 knots, they are equipped to not just fight fires in the port and within the city itself. Their compact size also enables them to undertake other activities including water supply, rescue and recovery, technical assistance and environmental protection. And with their ability to lower their wheelhouses and a draught of just 1.5 metres they can also undertake bridge inspections and maintenance within the city, as well as serve locations that larger vessels would be unable to reach.

Additional versatility comes from the ability to position mission containers on deck for additional fire-fighting equipment and day accommodation for up to 16 firefighters. The installed Fi-Fi systems include remote operation capability, foam pump and control systems, a pre-wetting system, a water spray system around the vessels and internal fire-fighting capability using a Stat-X aerosol fire suppression system. The climate-controlled wheelhouse and dayroom accommodate up to six crew.

The hulls for the vessels were fabricated at Damen Shipyards Kozle in Poland and then transported to Damen Shipyards Hardinxveld in the Netherlands for completion.

The handover and christening ceremony was hosted by the Mayor of Hamburg, Dr. Peter Tschentscher, and HPA managing director Jens Meier. The Prag was christened by Hana Třeštíková, City Councillor for Culture of the City of Prague, and the Dresden was christened by Annekatrin Klepsch, Dresden’s Deputy Mayor for Culture & Tourism. The vessels are now undergoing final commissioning and training of the crews and fire-fighters.

“It was good to be working once again with HPA, having built them a floating pump station in 2016,” said Jeroen van Woerkum, sales manager at Damen Shipyards Hardinxveld. “Designed by Robert Allan, these were already highly complex vessels, and the hybrid propulsion introduced yet another level of complexity. However the cooperation with Flotte Hamburg was very close and when COVID struck, all the parties worked together to overcome the issues that arose.”