German Navy to Get Two Large Fleet Tankers for Sustaining Naval Operations

摘要

Force levels in the German Navy currently hovering around the 65-ship mark, including eleven replenishment ships and 20 miscellaneous auxiliary vessels of different classes, are set to increase slightly in the upcoming years. Faced with delays to its shipbuilding plans, however, the naval service is now about to receive two new fleet tankers in the 2020s. As of the end of June 2019, the median age of the inventory of logistics vessels was about 28.4 years, with the two Spessart class (Type 704) fleet tankers Rhon (A 1443) and Spessart (A 1442) representing some of the oldest assets, now reaching a service life of almost 42 years. It is interesting to note that both these vessels were acquired by the then Bundesmarine as second-hand ships in March 1976; the vessels were originally constructed as civil oil tankers by Kroger shipyard near Rendsburg (now Lurssen-Kroger Werft) and delivered to the Danish shipping company Terkildsen & Olsen. Because they were constructed and classified as single-hull tankers, they will not cope with the latest approval regulations. The two vessels will now be decommissioned until 2024/25. The Chief of the German Navy, Vice Admiral Andreas Krause, noted that the successor of the Spessart class takes shape.