The ''Baltic'' is a German
emergency tow vessel (ETV) commissioned in 2010.
The vessel which was built in Spain by
Astilleros Armon is owned by Arbeitsgemeinschaft Küstenschutz of Germany, a consortium of tugboat companies. The
Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development of Germany has chartered the vessel to protect the German coastline. The ''Baltic'' replaced the tugboat ''Fairplay 26'' as an ETV and operates from
Warnemünde
(, literally ''Mouth of the Warnow'') is a seaside resort and a district of the city of Rostock in Mecklenburg, Germany. It is located on the Baltic Sea and, as the name implies, at the estuary of the river Warnow. is one of the world's bu ...
in the western
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and fr ...
.
She was commissioned on 24 September 2010.
The Baltic features a
bollard pull
Bollard pull is a conventional measure of the pulling (or towing) power of a watercraft. It is defined as the force (in tonnes force, or kilonewtons (kN)) exerted by a vessel under full power, on a shore-mounted bollard through a tow-line, commo ...
of 127 tons and a maximum speed of .
In October 2010, only a few days after commissioning, the ''Baltic'' was deployed to assist during the fire on the ferry ''
Lisco Gloria'' off the island of
Fehmarn
Fehmarn (, da, Femern; from Old Wagrian Slavic "''Fe More''", meaning "''In the Sea''") is an island in the Baltic Sea, off the eastern coast of Germany's northernmost state of Schleswig-Holstein. It is Germany's third-largest island, after Rü ...
.
Technical dates
Engine

The ''Baltic'' is driven by two main engines of the
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
16V250MDB3 type which are connected to two Schottel
controllable pitch propeller
In marine propulsion, a variable-pitch propeller is a type of propeller with blades that can be rotated around their long axis to change the blade pitch. Reversible propellers—those where the pitch can be set to negative values—can also ...
s via
transmissions and
drive shafts. The engines are 16-cylinder Diesel units which can provide each at a nominal 1,050
revolutions per minute
Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines.
Standards
ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensio ...
. The propellers are encased in
Kort nozzles and have a maximum revolution speed of 170 rpm. Two
thrusters are installed in the bow and the stern section respectively to improve the ship's manoeuvrability.
To provide electrical power, two generators with a power of 1,500
kVA each are coupled to the drive shafts. Additionally two main generators of 500 kVA and an emergency power unit (150 kVA) are installed on board.
Equipment
When commissioned, the ''Baltic'' was the most powerful tugboat along the German Baltic Sea coast. For towing tasks, the ship is equipped with two hydraulic
winch
A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in (wind up) or let out (wind out) or otherwise adjust the tension of a rope or wire rope (also called "cable" or "wire cable").
In its simplest form, it consists of a spool (or drum) attac ...
es. The towline has a diameter of 62 mm and a length of 500 m. Two
fire monitors are installed on board.
See also
*
''Nordic'', the ''Baltic's'' equivalent in the North Sea
*
Tug boat
A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baltic
Tugboats of Germany
2010 ships
Ships built in Spain