Port of Hamburg welcomes 1st hybrid police boat as it accelerates towards climate neutrality

December 9, 2024, by Naida Hakirevic Prevljak

Germany’s Port of Hamburg has received its first hybrid police boat which is expected to help it achieve the goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2040.

The hybrid police boat WS1 Bürgermeister Brauer was officially welcomed in the Port of Hamburg on December 5, 2024.

On the occasion, the 29.4-meter-long police boat with environmentally friendly plug-in hybrid drive docked at the Überseebrücke. Specifically, the boat has two 500 kW electric motors which enable a minimum of two hours of travel at seven knots on electric power alone. In addition, the boat uses synthetic environmentally friendly fuel GTL.

After a construction period of almost two years at the Estonian shipyard Baltic Workboats AS, the boat was transferred by sea to Germany and will start its service with the Hamburg Water Police next year.

Once the sea trials and crew training are completed, the new boat will replace next year the aging coastal patrol boat of the same name currently in service. The new WS1 marks the start of the renewal of the Hamburg police boat fleet.

Shortly, the new WS3 ‘Bürgermeister Weichmann’, a slightly smaller, similar-built vessel, will reach Hamburg and, together with the WS1, will undergo the commissioning phase with crew training. A third vessel, identical to the larger WS1, is to be delivered in 2025.

The Port of Hamburg is actively pursuing a transition towards greater climate neutrality with the aim of becoming climate-neutral by 2040. The promotion of sustainable technologies and energy sources plays a central role in this.

Since 2017, the Fleet Hamburg has been pooling its municipal watercraft and has already made significant progress. The use of hybrid watercraft by the water police is a further measure to reduce emissions.

“We are reducing emissions by using modern technologies – the new ships in the Hamburg fleet are protecting the climate by using advanced technology in the Port of Hamburg. This brings us one step closer to achieving our climate targets and reduces our dependence on fossil fuels,” Melanie Leonhard, Hamburg’s Senator for Economic Affairs, commented.

“With the introduction of the first hybrid police boat in the Port of Hamburg, we are taking an important step towards a sustainable future for watercraft. We are proud to equip the water police with low-emission propulsion technologies and thus actively contribute to reducing emissions in our city,” Karsten Schönewald, CEO of Flotte Hamburg, said.

“With this new vessel, the Hamburg water police will continue to carry out their duties in the Port of Hamburg, on the Lower Elbe and in German territorial waters with their usual professionalism and high quality. The fact that this is now being done with an environmentally friendly propulsion system underlines the compatibility of environmental protection and the performance of water police duties,” Olaf Hagenloch, Deputy Head of the Water Police, noted.