Replacement of the fishing research vessel “Walther Herwig

The Thünen Institute's fisheries research institutes are expected to receive a new research vessel in 2027. It will replace the ageing vessel Walter Herwig III. The ship is owned by the Federal Republic of Germany, used by the Thünen Institute, and operated by the Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food (BLE).
 
Planning for the replacement of the largest research vessel in German fisheries research, the “Walther Herwig III”, began back in 2008, when the Federal Government's parliament provided up to 85 million euros for the modern replacement. The plan was to build a ship that was quieter, more versatile and more environmentally friendly than its predecessor and could be used reliably for 30 years. The first Europe-wide tender was won by the Dutch Damen shipyard, which planned to build the ship mainly in Galati, Romania, by 2017. However, this did not happen. After years of increasingly tough planning and negotiations, an increase in the budget, an enlargement of the planned ship and numerous delays, the client and contractor finally parted ways by mutual agreement in 2021.

The construction was put out to tender again. The contract was awarded in fall 2023 to the German Fassmer shipyard, which had already built the two smaller federal fisheries research vessels, Solea (2004) and Clupea (2012). The keel was laid in Klaipeda/Lithuania in December 2024. Delivery of the ship, which is expected to cost about 240 million euros, is scheduled for October 2027.

Outstanding features of the new ship are the extremely low-noise propulsion system, the large central hangar in addition to the hydrographic hangar, five fishing winches that enable a quick change between demersal and pelagic fishing as well as twin trawling, and the option of converting the propulsion system to run on carbon-neutral and environmentally friendly “green” methanol.

We will report on the planning and construction progress at irregular intervals on this page.