W.D.R., which operates a fleet of five ferries on two lifeline services linking the islands of Föhr and Amrum, as well as the 'Hallig' islets of Hooge and Langeness, with the German mainland, ordered the vessel from Jiangsu Dajin Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. under the name INSEL FÖHR.

The 89-metre-long vessel was built to the Eco Freighter 5200XL design, an enlarged version of the Eco Freighter concept developed and owned by Groot Ship Design, based in Leek, the Netherlands. As BALTIC STRENGTH, the newbuilding will operate for Copenhagen-based Baltic Shipping Company A/S, primarily in the Baltic and North Sea regions. Nautical and technical management of INSEL FÖHR / BALTIC STRENGTH is being handled by Hamburg-based Kontor 17 MPM GmbH.

“With the INSEL FÖHR, we are expanding our existing business to include a long-term investment in the freight shipping sector,” comments Axel Meynköhn, Managing Director of Wyker Dampfschiffs-Reederei. Sustainability was a key consideration in the investment. “It was important to us to invest in a modern vessel with the lowest possible fuel consumption,” Meynköhn states. Despite its conventional propulsion system, the sophisticated design of INSEL FÖHR / BALTIC STRENGTH enables significantly lower fuel consumption than that of comparable vessels. To reduce fuel consumption and emissions even further, W.D.R. plans to invest in wind-assisted ship propulsion, with INSEL FÖHR / BALTIC STRENGTH equipped with two VentoFoils. The foundations required for their installation were already incorporated during the vessel's construction in China, while the VentoFoils themselves will be installed in the coming months. According to their manufacturer, the use of wind power can reduce fuel consumption by up to 20%, depending on the vessel's operational profile and prevailing wind conditions.

In addition to its efficiency, the Eco Freighter 5200XL design provides a high degree of flexibility for tramp operations. Designed to carry a broad range of cargoes, including for example grain, fertiliser, lime, crushed stone and timber, INSEL FÖHR / BALTIC STRENGTH is capable of manoeuvring in small and restricted ports, which are particularly common in the Baltic region.

For W.D.R., the construction of the new dry bulk carrier represents an interesting opportunity to complement its core business in island ferry operations. In addition to its own ferries NORDERAUE, SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN, UTHLANDE, NORDFRIESLAND and HILLIGENLEI, the company already owns another passenger vessel that is on a long-term charter to another operator: The 2019-built catamaran ADLER RÜM HART is, just like INSEL FÖHR / BALTIC STRENGTH, based on a Dutch design and, in her case, was even built in the Netherlands. She is successfully operated by Adler-Schiffe with a focus on day excursions traffic.

In W.D.R.'s 141-year history, the newbuilding INSEL FÖHR is already the second vessel to carry this name. The first INSEL FÖHR was an island ferry specifically designed for Wadden Sea services and built in Husum, Germany, in 1968. The vessel remained with W.D.R. for twelve years before joining Germany's then-thriving “Butterfahrt” duty-free trade under other operators, initially from 1980 as THOR VIKING and later as ADLER GERMANIA. The sturdy vessel was not scrapped until 2011, at the age of 43. Interestingly, the final owners of the former INSEL FÖHR were Adler-Schiffe – the very same company that today operates ADLER RÜM HART on a long-term charter from W.D.R.

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