More than 800 ships have been built since the Hitzler shipyard was founded in Lauenburg on the Elbe in 1885. What were the beginnings like, what were the highlights and how is a ship built today? A group from WISTA Germany found out during a visit to the site.
The two shipyard managers, Marek and Kai Klimenko, took an afternoon to explain the Hitzler shipyard and its history to the WISTA group. Johann Georg Hitzler laid the foundation stone for the shipbuilding company in 1885. As Kai Klimenko explained during the presentation, he initially started with a repair yard. The first newbuilding was soon erected, a tugboat. Since then, new ships have been built in Lauenburg in the summer and repairs carried out in the winter, according to Klimenko.
Hitzler relies on special shipbuilding
Repair and new construction are still two important divisions at Hitzler today. The company mainly repairs inland waterway vessels, quite a few of which are around 100 years old, as Kai Klimenko explained to the WISTA group. New ships are built at the Lauenburg shipyard, especially special ships. Special shipbuilding runs like a red thread through the company’s history. Numerous icebreakers, naval vessels and tugs have been built at the shipyard. However, the Lauenburg shipbuilders became particularly well-known for their Hitzler supply vessel, which was developed for use on Norwegian offshore platforms. This was not only built 65 times at the Hitzler shipyard, but also under license at other locations.
The third division of Hitzler Werft is construction. This is Marek Klimenko’s speciality. Before he took over Hitzler Werft together with his son Kai in 2021, he was Head of Construction there for over 30 years. Marek Klimenko introduced the Nupas Cadmatic software back in the 1990s. Today, 15 of the 60 employees work in the design department. This strong focus enables the shipyard to build ships efficiently. Precise and careful planning ensures that the shipbuilding processes can be carried out quickly. Marek Klimenko is particularly proud of the fact that the detailed planning means that, as a rule, only a few changes have to be made during construction, which keeps the construction costs “within limits”.
WISTA on a shipyard tour
After the introductory round, the shipyard tour began. This included a tour of various workshops where diesel engines and steering gear used to be manufactured. The WISTA group was also able to visit the 135 m and 85 m slipways as well as the newbuilding hall with two jetties (130 m x 18 m). Two new construction projects are currently underway in the latter, firstly a new bunker station for Hoyer and secondly the research vessel “Coriolis”, which was commissioned by the Hereon research institute. It will be equipped with modern technologies such as fuel cells, batteries and nitrogen oxide filters. A third newbuild, which is in the starting blocks, is a biogas-powered ferry for the Elbe river. With the implementation of such new construction projects, the shipyard is building on its long-standing tradition of special shipbuilding.
