CRIST Shipyard in Gdynia built NB 100 for Femern Link Contractors FLC
By Marek Grzybowski
The NB 100 pontoon was built at the Polish CRIST Shipyard, Member of the Baltic Maritime and Space Cluster, for the Femern Link Contractors FLC consortium. The NB 100 was handed over to the ordering party on September 12, 2024. The ceremony was attended by about a hundred people, representatives of state and local government authorities, scientists, businessmen, and members of the Baltic Maritime and Space Cluster.
The guests and hosts included: Sebastian Bliaut – CEO of Femern Link Contractors FLC; Voivode Emil Rojek. Leszek Bonna – Vice-Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship; professor Marek Grzybowski – president of the Baltic Sea and Space Cluster, chairman of the Polish Nautological Society.
The NB 100 FLC. is a multi-purpose pontoon for the construction of the longest underwater submersible tunnel in the world. The tunnel is to be built in the Fehmarn Belt, between Germany and Denmark, between the German port of Puttgarden and Rodbyhavn on the Danish island of Lolland.
– NB 100 is a ship being delivered today by the Crist shipyard in Gdynia. It is unique, but also a sign of the times that the shipyard has entered an area of business activity that is in demand in Europe and North American countries – emphasizes Prof. Marek Grzybowski, President of the Baltic Sea and Space Cluster.
CRIST Shipyard was founded by two engineers: Krzysztof Kulczycki and Ireneusz Ćwirko. The managers showed that it is possible to create a good, profitable shipyard from scratch. The shipyard in Gdynia implements extremely complicated projects, with great technical and technological advancement. These are very innovative ships and marine structures.
– Without a doubt, we can call the NB 100 pontoon a miracle of technology – said Ireneusz Ćwirko, President of the CRIST Shipyard, one of the founders of Stocznia Crist S.A.
– As an engineer in the shipbuilding industry, I would like to say that together with our team we have completed over 500 projects in Crist. With full responsibility, I would like to emphasize that this unit, which we are handing over today, is the most technically difficult construction we have ever completed in Crist. Its implementation required the maximum effort of our engineers, constant cooperation with people personally involved from FLC – President of the CRIST Shipyard said.
President of the CRIST Shipyard Ireneusz Ćwirko said: I would like to address Mr. Mohamed Ibrahim and all our cooperators: the implementation of this unit is proof that Europe is able to compete globally in the market of building complex, innovative and prototype ships. I would like to express my appreciation for our engineers and take this opportunity to say that Crist is ready for new challenges. I am glad that this is another project completed by us for our customers, who return to us with new orders.
NB100 is the second project carried out by CRIST for the construction of the Fehmarnbelt tunnel. The first, the MPP, was handed over to the recipient about a year ago. Its task is to precisely lay gravel on the seabed. In July this year, the vessel was named Maya.
“The first vessel Maya is to lay gravel on the seabed, on which the tunnel elements will then be laid. NB100 will deliver the tunnel elements to the site and sink them. NB 100 is a complement to the first vessel,” said Sébastien Bliaut, from Vinci Construction Grands Projets.
Sébastien Bliaut said: This is a completely unique project, it has never been attempted before on this scale, at the depths we will be dealing with. The load on the pontoon is the highest in its category. The length of the tunnel element is 200 m, weight 800 thousand tons.
In October 2023, CRIST delivered a specialized pontoon for laying gravel on the seabed, on which elements of the underwater tunnel will then be placed, which will connect Germany and Denmark. The MPP pontoon has a backfilling tool, which was designed and manufactured by the StoGda and CRIST design office. The device is remotely controlled and can be lowered from under the hull of the vessel up to 46 meters below the waterline. The hull of the MPP pontoon is 130 meters long, and the entire vessel with the device is 149 meters. Two chambers will hold 14,000 tons of gravel. The pontoon was contracted by the international consortium Femern Link Contractors, which is building the 18-km Femern Link tunnel, connecting the German Puttgarden with the Danish Rødbyhavn on the island of Lolland.
Movie: GospodarkaMorska.pl