The cancellation reached many affected berth owners by post: The operator and owner of the harbour, Count Franz von Waldersee, whose Waldersee estate also operated the port of Lippe, cancelled the berths of all permanent berth holders as of March 2025. The stationed DGzRS cruiser "Woltera" will also have to be relocated from Lippe, which has actually been classified as an emergency harbour for two years.
Rescue of Lippe seemed assured
The development came as a surprise, as the problem in Lippe in recent years has tended to be silting and the resulting high dredging costs. However, after members of the association succeeded in securing the dredging work for a few years by petitioning for the harbour to be classified as an official emergency harbour of the state and for the state to take over the expensive dredging work, the end now came unexpectedly from a completely different side: the construction of the wooden pier at the entrance is so heavily infested by the Toredo Navalis mussel that it is in danger of collapsing and safe operation is no longer possible. The management of the Waldersee estate confirmed to YACHT that the harbour will no longer be open in the spring.
Big loss for sailors
For sailors, especially from Fehmarn and the surrounding area as well as Kiel, this means the loss of a very popular route and weekend stopover in Hohwacht Bay. Lippe is strategically located in the centre of the route between Kiel and Fehmarn. However, the tug-of-war over the dredging date in recent years has already been a hanging game. Now the operator is pulling the plug. It is not known how much a renovation would cost, and Graf von Waldersee could not be reached for comment today.
Owner boats caught ashore
Some winter berths are now trapped in the harbour: The entrance has silted up to less than one metre due to the winter storms. The state will hardly allow the harbour to be dredged if it is no longer in operation and the DGzRS boat has also been withdrawn. It remains to be seen how the owners will then get their ships into the water.
According to the DGzRS, the loss of the station will be compensated for by the rescue cruisers in Laboe and a new fast boat in Burgstaaken. It is around 15 nautical miles from there to the centre of Hohwacht Bay.
