- Museum ship Rickmer Rickmers again send and return
After a more than two-week beautification process in a shipyard on the other side of the Elbe, the museum ship Rickmer Rickmers has now moored again in the Hamburg harbor. In the morning, the historic ship arrived at its berth at the landing stages as planned. "Everything went well and we're looking forward to welcoming many visitors on board again soon," a spokesperson for the museum ship told Deutsche Presse-Agentur. In recent days, numerous restorers, welders, painters, and other experts have worked on the 128-year-old three-master. "Everything went according to plan and we stayed within the timeframe."
Many works in less than three weeks
Since late July, the team has measured the thickness of the steel walls and reinforced them as needed, repaired spots with corrosion and rust holes, gutted and renewed toilets, cleaned the ship, and repaired or maintained many other things. After removing the mussels from the hull, the cargo ship was painted several times and finally varnished. A total of 2,600 liters of paint were used, the Rickmer Rickmers team posted on Facebook. Now, the Rickmer Rickmers shines again in its typical green-white-red colors.
Berth free of silt again
Moreover, during the absence of the museum ship, the berth near the Elbphilharmonie could be dredged and cleared of silt. This had to be postponed initially due to insufficient oxygen in the Elbe.
More than two and a half weeks were planned for the work at the Norderwerft on Steinwerder, and the schedule was met - despite the Rickmer Rickmers being towed into the shipyard a day later due to strong winds, and further repair needs being discovered during the work. For example, larger damages to the figurehead Rickmer Rickmers were discovered. Although these were initially restored, the spokesperson said that the repair or replacement of the figurehead will still be a topic in the coming years.
The museum ship finances the general overhaul through donations and entrance fees. The spokesperson could not yet provide concrete figures. The daily open museum ship has been lying at the landing stages for more than 35 years. It has to go to the shipyard for a beautification process regularly, the last time was eight years ago.
Infos about the history of the Rickmer Rickmers
Visitors can expect to see the results of numerous beauty treatments on the Rickmer Rickmers, as restorers, welders, painters, and other experts spent over two and a half weeks reinforcing steel walls, repairing corrosion, renovating toilets, cleaning the ship, and carrying out various maintenance tasks. As a result of the ship's absence, the berth near the Elbphilharmonie was able to be dredged and cleared of silt, ensuring a smooth arrival for the Rickmer Rickmers upon its return to the Hamburg harbor.
