First Rainbow Warrior newbuild delivered

The €23m motor assisted sailing yacht was built by the specialist small ship yard Fassmer in Berne to Greenpeace specifications which place emphasis on environmentally friendly technology. It is the biggest of the three ships of the same name which have served with the organisation since 1978.

The first two ships were both converted fishing ships built in the 1950s. The original Rainbow Warrior was sunk by French agents in New Zealand in 1985 while attempting to protest France’s nuclear testing in the Pacific. The second was retired after being damaged. Rainbow Warrior III, which has a steel hull and superstructure and a wheelhouse of marine aluminium, is 11.3m wide and draws 5.15m. Displacing 860 tons, it also is the first Greenpeace ship to boast a helicopter landing pad with heli-fuel station.

The Vessel carries two A-frame masts with five sails having a total area of 1,260 m2. The 1,425 kW Caterpillar C3512 main diesel-electric engine provides 15 knots. There are also two CAT C18s auxiliary diesels, each of 383 kW and a CAT C6.6 emergency diesel in an arrangement described as a ‘state of the art hybrid’. Also installed are a Schaffran propeller and a Schottel STT60, 110 kW bow thruster. Rainbow Warrior III has a range of 4,500 sea miles and carries a crew of 32 maximum, the biggest of any Greenpeace ship to date. The latest technology onboard also includes LAN and WLAN communications systems, V-SAT Seatel 4009 data exchange systems, LED lighting, GMDSS radio technology, ECDIS and two radar systems (S and X band). The vessel also has permanent broadband satellite links as well as an onboard Wifi network. Built to GL Class, the ship flies the Dutch flag with its home port Amsterdam.