Heligoland (Helgoland) is located 29 miles off the German coastline in the German Bight region of the North Sea and consists of two islands, the populated triangular 0.4 sq mile island of Hauptinsel to the west, and the 0.27sq mile Düne to the east. The island of Hauptinsel is what the place name Heligoland is normally used to refer to and the smaller island is not permanently inhabited. Although culturally closer to North Frisia in the German district of Nordfriesland, the two islands are part of the district of Pinneberg in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. Heligoland was a colony of the British Empire 1807-1890, has a population of around 1,100 people and is a holiday resort that enjoys Duty Free status, as it is part of the EU but excluded from the EU VAT area and customs union. Consequently, much of the economy is founded on sales of duty free merchandise to tourists who visit the islands. An airport is situated on Düne with the main island boasting a harbour frequented by private craft plus passenger ferry services from both Cuxhaven and Hamburg. A seasonal fast catamaran is operated by FRS (using the Halunder Jet) from Hamburg via Wedel and Cuxhaven whilst Cassen-Eils operate seasonal services from Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven and Büsum and a year-round link from Cuxhaven.

Cassen-Eils, founded in 1952 by Cassen Eils, is based in Cuxhaven and is a subsidiary of shipping company AG EMS. This operator is the oldest example providing services to the islands by sea and the parent company, operator of ferry services to Borkum, can trace its routes back to 1843.

In the summer of 2015 the company’s white fleet of passenger vessels consisted of the 1,525gt/1972 built Atlantis, 1,017gt/1973 built Funny Girl, 935gt/1970 built Fair Lady and 406gt/1977 built Flipper. Around 230,000 passengers are carried per annum with the ferry service being largely self-supporting. The subsidy provided by Helgoland amounts to just 150,000 euros per year, which is equal to 2 percent of the total operating costs, the other 98 percent coming from ticket sales.

A New Generation

With its youngest vessel dating from 1977, Cassen-Eils identified the need to introduce a new generation of ferry. In April 2013 the contract to operate the year-round Cuxhaven-Heligoland service was awarded to Cassen-Eils and this provided the AG EMS with the financial stability to place an order for a new LNG powered passenger and cargo ship tailored to the route’s traffic requirements. The contract to build an innovative new ferry was awarded to Fassmer GmbH of Berne-Motzen, near Bremen in Germany during October 2013. The Fassmer shipyard was set up in 1850 by Johannes Fassmer, initially concentrating on small wooden boats and lifeboats. In the present day, Holger and Harald Fassmer lead a company with more than 900 employees in the fifth generation and have gained an excellent national and international reputation. The facilities include a workshop area of 35,000m² plus a 250m long outfitting quay. What set the new vessel apart from her predecessors was the inclusion of an LNG propulsion system. Thanks to this, the EU provided a €4.17m grant for the project under its EU TEN-T programme with the construction cost estimated at €30.5m at the time the contract was signed. With the savings generated by the EU funding, AG EMS invested in two conventional crew transfer vessels for its offshore wind park services division, which cost approximately €2 million Euros each. The company already had these earmarked but the subsidy made it possible to accelerate the investment. AG EMS also converted the 2,596gt/1985 built Borkum ferry Ostfriesland to operate with an LNG system in April 2013. In the 150-year history of the shipping group, the new building was the highest single investment made to date. Being such a milestone vessel it was most fitting that the name to be bestowed upon her was Helgoland, the tenth ship to serve the region carrying that appellation. As is commonplace nowadays, the construction of the hull and main superstructure was outsourced to the Hullkon Shipyard in Szczecin, Poland. The keel laying took place for the 83m long, 12.60m beam and 3.60m draught ferry on 16th July 2014. In December 2014 the completed hull structure arrived at the Fassmer Shipyard by sea (under tow) for fitting out. The bow protruded from the outfitting hall at the shipyard as the vessel is one of the largest to be handled at the facility. The Helgoland was rolled out into the open air on 8th May 2015 and launched for the first time as a completed ship four days later.

White But Green

The Helgoland became Germany’s first passenger ferry with a dual-fuel propulsion system and had two Wärtsilä 9L20DF dual fuel main engines installed. Each has a power output of 1,665 KW and can run on LNG or Marine Gas Oil (MGO). The selected 9-cylinder Wärtsilä 20DF medium-speed engines are the latest generation of this Wärtsilä series. They offer an increased output of five per cent and a reduction of 70% in fuel consumption in LNG mode, compared to earlier versions of the engine. The machinery rooms are equipped with redundancies in all areas. Three auxiliary MAN E3262 LE202 natural gas engines each rated at 500kW can be used independently of, or in conjunction with, the main engines, allowing for the maximum speed to be achieved even in harsh weather conditions or when punching against the strong current of the River Elbe. Two 700kW shaft generators are also fitted. The main engines drive two Wärtsilä 2,600mm controllable pitch propellers producing a service speed of 20 knots. Wärtsilä has supplied its proprietary LNGPac fuel bunkering and supply system with associated safety and automation systems, and its proprietary Cold Recovery system which utilises the latent heat of LNG in the ship’s air conditioning systems, thus reducing the amount of electricity consumed in cooling compressors. This provides significant operational savings and an increase in overall vessel efficiency, while adding to the environmental benefits of the Wärtsilä package. The Helgoland will also consume up to one million litres of fuel per year less than a conventional diesel ferry, bringing a potential saving of approximately 570 tons of CO2 emissions (-20%), 15 tons of SOx (-99%) and 32 tons of NOx (-80%) as well as zero fine particle emissions. The LNG fuel is stored at -160 degrees Celcius in a Ctype tank located centrally within the hull beneath the forward section of the superstructure on the appropriately named Tank Deck. The LNG system is ventilated via what is designed to resemble a large mainmast midships. The difficulties posed are to be balanced out by cost savings in maintenance (parts to last 20% longer on average) and pollution reductions (20 percent less CO2, 90 percent less sulphur dioxide). Reederei Cassen Eils and Bomin Linde LNG signed an agreement concerning the supply of LNG to the Helgoland. The latter company is a joint venture of Linde AG and Mabanaft GmbH & Co. KG (a subsidiary of Marquard & Bahls AG) and has access to a broad range of expertise in cryogenic engineering, logistics and fuel supply. The ship is refuelled in a bunkering process certified by both the classification society (Germanischer Lloyd) and the flag state (Germany). The technical process nowadays is comparable to the process of bunkering traditional fuels. However, as the liquefied natural gas is cryogenically cooled to around -163°C, security precautions and appropriate staff training are essential. Cassen Eils did not express any safety concerns with LNG bunkering when passengers might be on board. The practice of bunkering with passengers disembarking/embarking was a major sticking point when the first LNG powered ferries came into service and created an operational headache. However, the industry has since gained considerable experience in using this fuel type.

The LNG supplied by Bomin Linde LNG will replace in excess of 1.2 million litres of marine diesel that would be used as fuel by a comparable conventional ship per annum.

Bomin Linde LNG has erected a storage facility in Hamburg which will serve as a base for delivering LNG to neighbouring ports. The location of this facility is of similar importance to Reederei Cassen Eils as their new ship offers a daily, year-round service from Cuxhaven as well as an additional weekend service from Hamburg-Landungsbrücken. The new vessel can go 3-4 days between bunkering but Cassen Eils plans to build three or four bunker storage tanks. However, initially the fuel is being transported in from either Hamburg or Holland by Bomin Linde. The ship has capacity for 54 cubic metres of LNG fuel and 12 cubic metres of MGO, the latter mainly required for the ignition sequence of the engines.

The Helgoland operates through waters close to the Lower Saxon Wadden Sea national park, an ecologically sensitive UNESCO World Heritage listed area in the south-eastern part of the North Sea, which comes under the North Sea Emissions Control Area (ECA, which came into effect in January 2015). The environmental attributes of the vessel make her most suitable for such a delicate area with her design conforming to the requirements of the Ministry of Environmental Protection. This has earned her the “Blauer Engel” environmental certification. Perhaps surprisingly, Cassen Eils has no plans to build additional LNG ships at this stage, but hopes that this newbuild will inspire the German Government to develop LNG-powered vessels for the German coast guard service.

The overriding priorities set by Cassen-Eils for this new ferry were environmental performance, energy efficiency, and the reliability of the propulsion machinery as she will be in daily service. The hull was designed for optimum efficiency with the ship’s stern profile reportedly being based on that of a German Naval frigate. The naval architecture was implemented 1:1 on the basis of those schematics, since the dynamics of that design were especially conducive to a stable and smooth ride.

To create the optimum design the vessel was lengthened from the 79m proposal by 4m, the beam was increased by 20cm but the draught remained at 3.60m. The impressive seakeeping characteristics of the ship thanks to the specially designed hull are assisted by two Blohm + Voss built retractable fin stabilisers. These are 3 metres long and weigh 11 tonnes each.

The design revisions created small delays to the construction process but problems with the complex LNG technology being installed brought about a delay in the service debut from the second half of October 2015 to December. The original delivery had been scheduled for June 2015. Time-consuming approval procedures for some of the prototype equipment used aboard the vessel were among the main reasons given for the deferral.

Cruise To The Islands

The Helgoland bears a striking resemblance to a small and luxurious expedition style cruise ship. Her sleek and stylish lines hark back to an era when passenger ships were designed to be grand rather than to maximise the revenue potential of every morsel of space. As mentioned above, the LNG tank is located forward on the lowest deck, the Tank Deck, with the majority of the machinery and LNG system located on Deck 1. The tank also occupies part of this deck with the main engines sited aft.

There are eight Officer & Crew cabins located aft on Deck 2 (4 single/4 double) along with associated facilities such as the Mess Room. Forward into the passenger spaces we come to the Hummerbuden on the port side. This cosy and quiet area offers places for 28 passengers with the name translating as Lobster Shacks. The area was inspired by Heligoland’s hoteliers and allows those who wish to rest during the voyage to do so. A catering outlet is located centrally in this area of Deck 2 with the 32 seater Beach Club occupying the starboard side. Forward of here is the Reeperbahn Atrium and bar, named after a famous area of Hamburg, with seating for 54 people. This area also forms the lower level of the feature that extends up into the imitation funnel structure. The section of this deck towards the bow offers the 214 seater Neuwerk Lounge. Neuwerk is a tidal island in the Wadden Sea between the Elbe and Weser estuaries. Moving up to Deck 3 forward, the 231 seater Kugelbake Lounge (named after a Cuxhaven landmark) overlooks the bow via panoramic windows. The LNG control room is also located in the bow on this level. Aft of the lounge is the second tier of the atrium, this time named after Hamburg’s Landungsbrücken. There is seating for 38 in this area and large windows provide a light ambience throughout. Walking aft three dining areas are arrived at. On the port side is the 56 seat Alte Lieber Restaurant (a name influenced by Helgoland), to starboard is the 66 seat Knieper Restaurant and on the stern is the 66 seat Zansibar Bistro. Deck 4 offers a large open promenade deck with seating for 246 passengers, plus the third tier of the atrium feature and the exhaust stack for the diesel machinery. This top level of the atrium, Palmaille, is in the imitation funnel with seating for 12 people. Forward of this is the air conditioning room, other services, the Captain’s cabin and office plus the navigation bridge complete with traditional bridge wings. The uppermost level, Deck 5, is 13.75m above the keel, has outdoor seating for 22, plus the top tier of the funnel feature, the Süllberg Club Skybar, that can seat 25. The two areas within the dummy funnel boast full height picture windows to further enhance this innovative feature. The atrium also has a glass elevator linking Decks 2-4. The paintings, photographs, and other exhibition pieces all relate closely to the island of Heligoland plus Hamburg and Cuxhaven, along with the names bestowed upon each facility aboard. The maximum passenger capacity is set at 1,180 with a general summer capacity of 1,060 and 840 in winter when the outer decks are not in use. Located in the bow on Decks 2/3 is a cargo hold that can cater for up to ten 10 foot containers or two 20 foot containers plus other cargo. The freight area, with an 80 tonne capacity, is served by a 10t SWL electro hydraulic crane mounted on deck. Mail is also carried with this ship doing very much the same job as the Scillonian III which plies between Penzance and the Isles of Scilly each March- November. Freight forwarding is handled through the DFDS branch office in Cuxhaven and the Helgoland Freight Office, near the harbour. The voyage time from Cuxhaven to Helgoland is 2.5 hours with departures from Cuxhaven daily 21st March-October and Mon-Sat in the winter season. The Helgoland was christened on 11th December by Christa Eils, former Managing Director and widow of company founder at the Alte Liebe in Cuxhaven. The new ship is the tenth Helgoland (Heligoland in English) vessel to carry the name. After the ceremony the Helgoland embarked upon her maiden voyage, sailing across the German Bight in a Force 9 gale with 4m seas. The previous Helgoland, a 1,812gt passenger and vehicle ferry built in 1972 and operating for AG EMS between Emden and Borkum, has resumed her previous name of Westfalen.

Technical Specifications