Powerful protector
Volvo Penta and Danish boatbuilder Tuco Marine Group have teamed up to create a firefighting vessel for the Greater Copenhagen Fire Department.
27 August 2020
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The Danish operator, Hovedstadens Beredskab (HBR), part of the Greater Copenhagen Fire Department Association, recently commissioned the build of HBR 1 Copenhagen, a tough, full-cabin multi-response vessel that can sail under all weather conditions.
The new vessel responds to emergency calls in the Harbour of Copenhagen and the surrounding area, navigating the city’s canals to deliver a fast and effective fire response to residents.
The finished vessel, built by Tuco Marine Group, is 15 metres long and is propelled to a maximum speed of 29 knots by the Volvo Penta Inboard Performance System (IPS). Two Volvo Penta IPS450s power this high-speed firefighting boat.
Tuco Marine specialises in the module-based design of light, durable, reliable workboats. The HBR 1 Copenhagen is the latest model in Tuco’s ProZero series of fast workboats.
“The ProZero series offers user-specific designs,” said Jonas Pedersen, Managing Director of Tuco Marine.
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“HBR 1 Copenhagen is a prime example of this – everything is designed and built in full compliance with the specific requirements of HBR,” continued Pedersen.
“We recommend the Volvo Penta IPS for this build because it delivers exactly what our customer needed.”
Effective fire response needs to be fast and reliable, and the Volvo Penta IPS is faster, more fuel-efficient, and more reliable than traditional inboard shaft installations.
“The HBR 1 Copenhagen works for 12-hour shifts – with a crew of two emergency response specialists. The crew has to be ready to move around the city quickly – with a response time of 10–15 minutes.
“As well as being fast, Volvo Penta IPS allows the vessel to be manoeuvred in a very agile way,” said Claus Hjorth Christoffersen, HBR’s Operational Planning and Analysis Manager.
Individually steerable Volvo Penta IPS drives are linked to the onboard Joystick Docking function. The joystick makes pulling up close to the source of a fire or navigating alongside other vessels easier and safer.
Another key advantage of Volvo Penta IPS is its compact size. This leaves space in the vessel’s enclosed cabin for a reclined patient, ten seated passengers, a defibrillator, and O2 equipment as well as first-aid supplies. For firefighting, HBR 1 Copenhagen is also equipped with a pump, water cannon, two-ton crane, and diving platform.
Below deck in the storage room is 180 metres of fire hose along with an additional portable pump for on-land use. So the crew is prepared to respond to a multitude of different emergencies.
Gerard Törneman, Sales Project Manager, Volvo Penta said, “We are delighted that Volvo Penta IPS was chosen to power this vessel. Our long history of working with Tuco Marine made this job very straightforward.”
“The results speak for themselves – the HBR 1 Copenhagen is truly a vessel fit for the challenge of protecting Copenhagen.”
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Clear sailing ahead
