The lady is swimming again!

After a pit stop of more than five years, the German Navy's sail training ship is back in its element.
Problems with the refurbishment, a massive increase in the costs of the shipyard laytime, the legal dispute between the shipyard concerned and the Federal Ministry of Defence and an inspector who stands in front of his crew in the face of press scolding - the German Navy's sail training ship has caused quite a stir in recent times. A female defence minister came through the Gorch Fock almost stumbled. In the end, a shipbuilder recognised its responsibility to underpin its bond with its customer, the German Navy. In October 2019, Fr. Lürssen Werft took the German flagship under its wing. Today, 10 March, the Gorch Fock is now finally back in the water. The ship and shipyard have thus reached an important milestone on the way to the handover to the German Navy, which is scheduled for the end of May this year. The repair odyssey that has been ongoing since January 2016 should then come to a happy end. Following today's "launching" in Berne, tugs moved the ship up the Weser to the Lürssen site in Lemwerder. The final outfitting - including the further installation of the interior fittings - and commissioning will take place at the pier there in the coming weeks. The mooring process was initiated yesterday, 9 March. The Gorch Fock was braced onto a superstructure and pulled onto an undercarriage on the transfer system with the help of wheel loaders. With the help of the undercarriage, the ship entered a synchrolift, which lowered it into the water.

The price for the general overhaul of the three-master amounts to around 135 million euros, whereas ten million euros had once been budgeted - a cost explosion that was scrutinised by the Federal Audit Office. And which publicly questioned the usefulness of the ship. In addition to its training mission, the Gorch Fock two further tasks: External representation of the Navy and representation of Germany and the Bundeswehr abroad.
The Gorch Fock will embark on its first voyage in July, which, according to the navy, will take it to Nordic waters. On board will be officer candidates who began their training in Mürwik towards the end of last year. The 2020 naval officer class was recruited at different times due to the coronavirus pandemic. There were three cruises in total.

Text: Hans-Uwe Mergener; Photos: Bundeswehr/Leon Rodewald