The “Welt ahoi”, Lübeck’s first hybrid ferry, remains on the bank. Technical problems prevent the start of a climate-friendly future.
Lübeck – The “Welt ahoi”, a prestige object and symbol of an environmentally friendly future, got off to a bumpy start. Although she should have taken over the daily transport of people and vehicles between Travemünde and Priwall across the Trave, she is not yet in a position to set off. This is what they report Picture and the Morning post citing the Lübeck news.
The ship, which is designed for 250 people, 15 bicycles and 18 cars, has to watch as its sisters “Travemünde” and “Pötenitz”, which have been active since 1999 but are not operated in a climate-neutral manner, cross the Trave. It waits for its own use.
Hybrid ferry in Lübeck is struggling with problems – and cannot leave
The hybrid ferry for the Trave has to contend with a number of problems. Numerous defects were discovered in the “Welt ahoi”, which cost around five million euros. There are problems with the loading doors not fitting the ferry docks, as well as with the battery, control software and various hardware components. In addition, pedestrians and cyclists can only use one side of the actual double-ended ferry.
This situation is reminiscent of the solar ferry “Missunde III”which was supposed to commute across the Schlei, but had significant problems with wind and current. In contrast, the electric ferry “Insel Mainau”, which has been traveling on Lake Constance since 2022, is successful.
Municipal utilities explain: “There have been repeated errors since the baptism”
The shipyard and the Lübeck municipal utility as the client are arguing about the cause of the failures and the additional repair costs. Nevertheless, the “Welt ahoy” has already been officially accepted. The Stadtwerke Lübeck explained at the request of IPPEN.MEDIA: “In the course of commissioning, training and test trips, errors have repeatedly occurred in various system components of the ferry in the past few weeks since its christening.”
Lars Hertrampf, spokesman for the municipal utilities, expressed his regret about the situation: “We very much regret that the ‘Welt ahoi’, the flagship of modern, low-emission ferry transport, cannot currently go into operation. However, everyone involved agrees that it is more expedient to forego any journeys until further notice in order to tackle all errors from the ground up now.”
Commissioning of the hybrid ferry remains unclear
The municipal utilities admitted that they do not know when the ferry can be put back into operation: “We are working hard with representatives of the shipyard and with experts from the respective system suppliers on the analysis and a cross-component solution strategy. There will be a top-level discussion on this with the representatives mentioned in the near future. Only then can we give an assessment of the duration and process of the repair work.”
Hybrid ferry or not – ferry traffic will continue
“World ahoy” is already discussed on the Stadtwerke homepage. The ferry fleet is intended to enable around 3.3 million passengers to travel safely across the Trave per year.
The “Welt ahoi” has the same dimensions as its two diesel sisters: a length of 37 meters and a width of 13.50 meters. She is the first hybrid ferry in Schleswig-Holstein and can be converted to fully electric drive – hopefully soon in reality. Until then, the municipal utilities promise: “Detached from the availability of the ‘World ahoy!’ “Ferry traffic will be guaranteed as usual via the existing car ferries”. (mg/yr)
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