Prerow island harbour: Not ready to start until mid-July - stormy winter to blame
Andreas Fritsch
· 25.03.2024
According to the plan, the island harbour in Prerow and the new pier were supposed to be launched in April, but the bad weather in winter, especially the frequent storms, put a spanner in the works. YACHT has asked the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern for an update on the status, as the season starts in about a month and the almost 50 nautical miles between Rostock and Barhöft can be quite a hurdle for crews of smaller boats. Especially in bad weather, of course, or if you lose time en route in calm or wind shifts and are in danger of getting caught in the dark. This is precisely why the transition from the closure of the Darßer Ort port of refuge, which has been dismantled since October, should go hand in hand with the opening.
Unfortunately, this has now been cancelled due to the delays. The state's press release states: "Due to the unfavourable weather conditions in the past winter months, there have been delays in the construction process. According to the current schedule, the construction work should be completed by mid-July 2024. After that, the island harbour should be able to resume regular operations."
Downtime on over 50 per cent of working days in January
"We knew from the outset that building an island harbour in such an exposed location would be a major challenge for the construction company. Despite the unfavourable weather conditions in the past winter months, the construction project has progressed well," says Dr Till Backhaus, who is responsible for the state's construction project.
"In January alone, we had so much wind on 15 out of 26 working days that the construction site had to be completely shut down. These were unusual weather conditions, which even led to considerable downtime on various land-based construction projects because no crane work could be carried out. Of course, this applies all the more to a construction site on the Baltic Sea, where elements weighing several tonnes have to be installed with millimetre precision using floating equipment," continued the Minister for Climate Protection, Agriculture, Rural Areas and the Environment. On the other hand, the island harbour has already passed its test to a certain extent due to the weather conditions.
"I can still remember well that we were worried about the structures under construction after the storm surge in October 2023, which caused high sea states as well as high water levels. The new breakwater survived this event very well and fulfilled its function as intended," said Minister Dr Backhaus, pointing out that floating construction equipment was also safely stationed in the island harbour during the storm surge.
The work in Darßer Ort is almost complete
At the same time, the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is dismantling the structures of the former emergency harbour at Darßer Ort and renaturalising Lake Otto. This work is on schedule as the work in this protected area is less susceptible to weather-related cancellations. The renaturalisation should be almost complete by the beginning of April. The sheet piling and stone revetments will then be replaced by natural shoreline areas. After almost 50 years of restrictions, the natural area can once again develop undisturbed in accordance with the objectives of the national park plan.
"The employees of the national park, environmental organisations, nature conservation authorities and many nature lovers have been working towards this goal for a long time. I assume that very valuable habitats will quickly develop again in place of the emergency harbour. However, we also welcome the new island harbour outside the core zone of the national park and have been committed to the new replacement building over the past few years," says a delighted G. Haffner, head of the national park.
The island harbour in Prerow will replace the controversial emergency harbour at Darßer Ort and finally offer the long-desired stopover function for pleasure craft. In addition to the construction of the island harbour and a 720-metre-long pier, the M-V state government's construction project also includes a functional/operational building and a passenger jetty.
The state's investment for the entire island harbour project amounts to around 46.2 million euros. The project of the municipality of Ostseebad Prerow and the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is being financed with funds from the European Regional Development Fund.
