The Nordic is a German emergency tow vessel

Emergency tow vessel

An emergency tow vessel, also called emergency towing vessel, is a multi purpose boat used by state authorities to tow disabled vessels on high seas in order to prevent dangers to man and environment...

 (ETV) stationed on an offshore position north of the East Frisian island

East Frisian Islands

The East Frisian Islands are a chain of islands in the North Sea, off the coast of East Frisia in Lower Saxony, Germany. The islands extend for some from west to east between the mouths of the Ems and Jade / Weser rivers and lie about 3.5 to 10 km offshore...

 of Norderney

Norderney

Norderney is one of the seven populated East Frisian Islands off the North Sea coast of Germany. It is also a municipality in the district of Aurich in Lower Saxony....

. It is the most powerful tugboat in German waters.

Construction and commissioning

The construction and commissioning of the Nordic were a consequence of the Pallas accident off Amrum

Amrum

Amrum is one of the North Frisian Islands on the German North Sea coast, south of Sylt and west of Föhr. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein...

 island in 1998 when a cargo vessel ran aground and lost a substantial amount of oil. Especially the Schutzgemeinschaft Deutsche Nordsee association and many other non-governmental organisations for the protection of the environment had worked towards the commissioning of a new emergency tow vessel on the German North Sea coast.

Constructions began on 27 October 2009 on the P+S Werften yards, formerly known as Peene-Werft, in Wolgast

Wolgast

Wolgast is a town in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the bank of the river Peenestrom, vis-a-vis the island of Usedom that can be accessed by road and railway via a bascule bridge...

, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is a federal state in northern Germany. The capital city is Schwerin...

, with yard number 563. Sea trials were held in October 2010. In the course of these trials, the Nordic delivered a bollard pull

Bollard pull

Bollard pull is a value that allows the comparison of the pulling force of watercraft, particularly tugboats. A mooring bollard may be used as a point of attachment for measuring the force, or pull of the craft.-Background:...

 of 207 tons (ca. 2,030 kN). After its completion on 15 November 2010 and the christening on 8 December 2010 by Susanne Ramsauer, the wife of Federal German Minister of Transport Peter Ramsauer

Peter Ramsauer

Peter Ramsauer is a German politician. He is qualified as a professional miller in accordance with the traditional occupation of his ancestry while holding the degree of PhD in Management, is married and has four daughters...

, the ship replaced the salvage tug

Salvage tug

A salvage tug is a specialized type of tugboat which is used to rescue or marine salvage ships which are in distress or in danger of sinking, or which have already sunk or run aground....

 Oceanic which was decomissioned after 41 years in service on New Year's Day 2011. Inofficially, the construction costs of the Nordic were said to have been about €

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

 50 million.

Operation

The Nordic is owned by NORTUG Bereederungs GmbH & Co. KG which is partially held by the members of the German consortium Arbeitsgemeinschaft Küstenschutz. The ship is operated by Bugsier-, Reederei- und Bergungsgesellschaft who charter the tow vessel to the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development for an initial time of ten years and a fee of € 114 million. The operational base is Cuxhaven on the mouth of the river Elbe

Elbe

The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...

. With a maximum speed of 19.9 knots (39 km/h) the Nordic is able to reach any stricken vessel in German North Sea waters within two hours.

In order to be able to operate in a contaminated atmosphere, the ship has been fitted with superstructures that can be sealed tight and are explosion-proof.

Engine and propulsion

The ships is fitted with two MTU

MTU Friedrichshafen

MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH is a manufacturer of commercial internal combustion engines founded by Wilhelm Maybach and his son Karl Maybach in 1909...

 20V8000M71L plants in an anti-gas operational mode, two MTU 12V4000 auxiliary engines for driving the two main electrical generators and another Diesel engine by MAN which powers the emergency generator.

The Nordic has been prepared to operate in a flammable or harmful atmosphere, e.g. after a tanker accident. Among other safety measures, such cases involve the shutting down of the turbochargers so that compressed air inside them may not be ignited. However, this reduces the engine power. A seawater cooling of the exhaust system reduces the temperature of the exhaust fumes to 135 °C (275 °F).

The propulsion is diesel-mechanical via a gearbox and shaft device by Flender AG onto two controllable pitch propellers by Berg Propulsion

Berg Propulsion

Berg Propulsion is a Swedish company that designs and manufactures controllable pitch propellers for the marine industry. The company produces customized main propellers, azimuth thrusters, transverse thrusters and maneuver systems....

 which are mounted inside Kort nozzle

Kort nozzle

The Kort nozzle is a shrouded, ducted propeller assembly for marine propulsion. The hydrodynamic design of the shroud, which is shaped like a foil, offers advantages for certain conditions over bare propellers....

frames.