On February 1st, 2005 the maritime journal HANSA chose the research vessel PLANET as the “Ship of the Year 2004”. This twin-hull vessel was built by Nordseewerke in Emden. The vessel with a length of 72m and a width of 27.2m has a displacement of 3500 tons, which makes it the largest SWATH twin-hull vessel ever built by a German shipyard. But not only the size but also the technology is completely new. The PLANET is the first All Electric Ship (AES) built in Germany. The machines for propulsion and generators for energy supply are conceived in Permanent Magnet Excitation Technology. Her propulsion plant consists of two diesel gensets of 1275kW each, two diesel generators of 1700kW and four propulsion motors, all using PM technology. Even the ship mains and the ship propulsion network are used for the first time in this configuration on a sea-going ship. A special challenge for the shipyard were the high acoustic requirements for the vessel. For this purpose, the know-how from submarine technology was very helpful.
The service speed is 15 knots giving the ship an operational range of 5000 miles and an endurance of about 30 days. She carriers a crew of 25 and also accommodates 20 scientific personnel. The main tasks of the PLANET are surface and underwater naval research as well as testing of navy-specific components, in particular torpedoes, and sonar equipment.
