Sea rescue christening on Whitsun Saturday in Travemünde: The latest lifeboat of the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service (DGzRS) was named ERICH KOSCHUBS on 22 May 2021 on the Priwall. The volunteer sea rescuers at the traditional DGzRS station have a state-of-the-art 10.1-metre newbuild of the latest generation.
With the words "I christen you ERICH KOSCHUBS and wish you and your crew a safe journey at all times and always a safe return home", Edeltraut Koschubs christened the new lifeboat in the name of her late husband. The 78-year-old woman from Hamburg had made the new vessel with the DGzRS internal registration number SRB 80 possible with a very generous donation. It was very important to Edeltraut Koschubs to donate part of her fortune to a worthwhile cause during her lifetime. She found this with the sea rescuers: "My money is put to good use at the DGzRS. It helps to save lives - that makes sense!" The construction of SRB 80 was only possible, emphasised Edeltraut Koschubs, "because my husband had earned his fortune with a lot of diligence, determination, hard work and the courage to take risks". In her words at the naming ceremony, she described the man who gave the new rescue boat its name as helpful, kind-hearted and very humorous. "Today is an opportunity to honour a wonderful person with this christening." Last but not least, Erich Koschubs travelled the Baltic Sea with his boat during his lifetime and was a donor to the DGzRS as a water sportsman.
Generous donation enables new building
The sea rescuers are very grateful to Edeltraut Koschubs. "Her very generous donation puts us in a position to fully finance the new build," says Deputy Chairman of the DGzRS Ingo Kramer. Edeltraut Koschubs herself has had a close relationship with the new rescue boat since the keel was laid in autumn 2019: following a shipbuilding tradition, she placed a lucky coin in a section at the Tamsen Maritim shipyard on the Warnow. The ten-euro commemorative coin "650 years of the Städtehanse" travels on every mission. It links four Hanseatic cities that played a key role in the new build: Bremen, Hamburg, Rostock and Lübeck - the DGzRS headquarters, the donor's place of residence, the site of the shipyard and the station where the new build was constructed.
Due to the pandemic, the DGzRS was unfortunately unable to christen the new lifeboat in public. A public presentation for all friends and supporters of the sea rescuers will be organised as soon as possible. The sea rescuers are grateful to the Schleswig-Holstein Seamen's School on Priwall, which organised the traditional christening ceremony for the ERICH KOSCHUBS in a small group on its premises. The volunteer sea rescuers from the neighbouring stations of Neustadt i. H. and Timmendorf/Poel also came to Travemünde with the lifeboats HENRICH WUPPESAHL and WOLFGANG WIESE as well as the training boat MERVI from the Neustadt i. H. sea rescue training centre.
The ERICH KOSCHUBS is a 10.1 metre long and 380 hp sea rescue boat of the latest generation. "She is extremely seaworthy and has excellent handling characteristics," says volunteer foreman Patrick Morgenroth, describing his initial experiences. The new build is slightly larger than its predecessor. "We can now transport shipwrecked, sick and injured people even better and provide them with medical care on board," emphasises Morgenroth.
Regular modernisation of the rescue fleet
The ERICH KOSCHUBS was built at the Tamsen Maritim shipyard in Rostock. She is the last unit of her class for the time being. These modern special ships are replacing older units as part of the regular modernisation of the rescue fleet. This newbuild has been stationed in Travemünde since the end of 2020 and has already completed around 20 missions. It has replaced the HANS INGWERSEN, which entered service in 2000. In future, the 9.5-metre sea rescue boat will be deployed without a fixed station whenever other rescue units need to be deployed, for example during a scheduled general overhaul.
Text: DGzRS/Christian Stipeldey; Photo: DGzRS
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