Sea-Watch 4
The Sea-Watch 4 is a former German research ship. The ship is owned by Sea-Watch e. V. who are using her as a rescue ship for refugees in distress on the Mediterranean Sea. Previously, the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR) operated the ship under the original name of Poseidon, after the Greek god of the sea, with the State of Schleswig-Holstein as the owner. In January 2020 the ship was auctioned and bought by Sea-Watch e. V. and renamed Sea-Watch 4 on 20 February 2020. History The ship was built in 1975/76, under construction number 2266 at the Schichau Unterweser shipyard in Bremerhaven. The keel was laid on 4 November 1975, and the launch took place on 2 May 1976. The ship was completed in August 1976, and on 30 August 1976 the ship was put into service. The construction of the ship cost around 23 million DM and was financed 90% from funds from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany) (BMFT) and 10% from funds from the State of Schleswig-Holstein. The ship was operated by the Kiel Institute for Oceanography until 2003 and then by the Leibniz Institute for Marine Sciences at the University of Kiel, IFM-GEOMAR, (created through the merger of the Institute for Oceanography and the GEOMAR Research Center of the University of Kiel), which on 1 January 2012 became the GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel. The ship was managed by Briese Schiffahrt in Leer. The Poseidon was the second German research ship with this name. From 1902 to 1938 there was a research ship Poseidon, the Reichsforschungsdampfer Poseidon, measuring 481 GRT, which was mainly used for fisheries research in the seas of the European shelf. GEOMAR still operates the research vessel as well as the research cutter and the boat , which originally served as a laboratory together with the research vessel Polarstern (built 1982). In 2022, the research vessel Meteor IV was ordered at Meyer Werft and Fassmer to replace the Meteor and the Poseidon in 2026. Description The ship was able to stay at sea as a research vessel for around three weeks and had an operational radius of around 4,200 nautical miles. The area of operation was limited to the Atlantic Ocean and its marginal seas. The ship was used for oceanographic, marine biological, geological and geophysical research. The ship had five laboratories (including a wet laboratory, dry laboratory and chemical laboratory) and was equipped with winches, cranes (including an NMF working crane for loads of up to 5 tonnes and a stern boom from MacGregor that could be swivelled by 85 ° for loads of up to 5 tonnes ) as well as various hydroacoustic systems, including a multi-beam echo sounder. The ship is powered by diesel-electric technology. The fixed propeller, which is equipped with a Becker rudder, is driven by an electric motor from the manufacturer Lloyd Dynamowerke with an output of 930 kW at 280 rpm. Three diesel-powered generators are available to generate