| History | |
|---|---|
 Austria | |
| Name | Eisvogel |
| Owner | Port of Vienna |
| In service | 1955 |
| Identification |
|
| Status | in active service, as of 2012[ref] |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Type | Icebreaker |
| Tonnage | 80 tons[clarification needed] |
| Length | 32 m (105 ft) |
| Beam | 6.5 m (21 ft) |
| Propulsion | 382 kW (520 PS) engines |
Icebreaker Eisvogel (English: Kingfisher) is an icebreaker employed by the Port of Vienna, Austria.[2][3][4][5][6] Eisvogel clears ice in all three of Vienna's harbors. She is employed when the ice becomes a few centimetres in thickness. In 1985 she cleared ice that was 60 centimetres (24 in) thick.
In ice-free months the vessel is employed for official tours.[7]
The German Navy built a 560-ton icebreaker, also named Eisvogel, which was sold off and is operated as a tugboat out of the port of Trieste.[8]
The ice-breaker "Eisvogel" Makes its way through the frozen habour [sic] on the River Danube in Vienna, Austria, Friday, Jan. 29, 2010.translate page Archived 2012-04-04 at the Wayback Machine
Following the regulation of the Danube there are no longer any ice floes, but the Danube and its tributaries sometimes still freeze over to a thickness of several centimetres. The icebreaker MS Eisvogel is then in action for hours at a time keeping the navigation channels around the port free of ice. While passenger shipping is suspended, some 400 cargo vessels are handled in Vienna in the winter.
The icebreaker is 32 metres long, 6.5 metres wide and weighs 80 tons. The ice is no match for its 520 PS diesel engines and hull protected by 12 mm of steel. To provide even more power, the ship can take on water ballast equivalent to its own weight.
There was a time when the Danube was a real danger in winter for Vienna and its inhabitants. Huge blocks of ice forming on the river often crushed ships, caused terrible flooding or destructive tidal waves. Today the Danube is regulated, and the Wiener Hafen group has invested heavily in flood protection in the past. When ice forms on the river today, for example, the ice breaker MV Eisvogel keeps the harbour basin free.
At the invitation of Austrian Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology, Doris Bures – along with journalists, experts and decision-makers – joined a press boat tour onboard the icebreaker "MS Eisvogel".
The Eisvogel (IMO: 8736198, Port of Registry: Trieste) is a 1961 built icebreaker of 35 meters long, almost 10 meters wide. She was built for the German navy by Hitzler Werft, Germany and is propelled by two Maybach MD 655 engines delivering a total output of 1765 kW at 1400 rpm which gives the vessel a 20 tons bollard pull and a maximum speed of 14 knots. Nowadays the vessel is operated as a standard tug by Lucatelli Towing & Salvage, Trieste, Italy.
