Ship Modelers Database
Image: CC BY-SA 3.0 · commons.wikimedia.org
Alte Liebe (tugboat)
Active (as of early 2010s photographs)
Alte Liebe is a German harbor tug based at Cuxhaven on the Lower Elbe, used for towing, pilot-boat support, and winter ice-breaking around the harbor approaches. The name, German for "Old Love," is shared with the well-known timber pier/breakwater at the harbor entrance, from which several local vessels have taken their name over the years.
Kits of this ship
+ Add a kit| Alte Liebe - Harbour Tug / Tender | Caldercraft | 1:25 | Pre-formed Hull | Available |
Plans
No plan sets listed for this ship yet. Know of museum, archive or publisher drawings? Add them so the next builder can find them.
Links go to the publisher's or museum's own page. Ship Modelers Database lists plan sets; it doesn't host or display the drawings.
Build logs
+ Link a build logNo build logs linked yet.
Resources
+ Submit a resourceHistory & specifications
- Flickr: Schlepper Alte Liebe beim Eisbrechen in CuxhavenWebsite
Captioned photo giving the tug's build year, dimensions, tonnage, speed, power, and owner, useful for scale modeling specifications.
- Wikipedia: Alte Liebe (Cuxhaven)Article
Background on the Cuxhaven pier/landmark after which the tug and other local vessels are named, useful for disambiguating the name.
Photos
- Wikimedia Commons: Alte Liebe (Ship) 2012 by RaBoe, photo 1Photo
Specific CC-BY-SA licensed photograph of the tug used as the reference image for this record.
- Wikimedia Commons: Category Alte Liebe (tugboat, 1966)Photo
Commons category gathering photographs of the 1966-built Cuxhaven tug, useful for confirming identity and finding open-licensed images.
History
Specifications
Photographic documentation gives her as roughly 23.00 m long with a 6.70 m beam and 2.50 m draft, about 89 gross register tons, with around 441 kW of power for a service speed near 11 knots - dimensions typical of a small steel-hulled harbor and ice-breaking tug.
Service history
Built in 1966, the tug has remained based at Cuxhaven and in more recent years has been operated by the regional port authority Niedersachsen Ports. Surviving photographs show her engaged in ice-breaking duty in her home harbor during winter.
Notable facts
Modelers should take care with this name, since "Alte Liebe" has been used for at least three distinct German vessels: this 1966-built harbor tug, an unrelated 1931 Nobiskrug-built Cuxhaven steam tug (later renamed Kirstin and re-engined with diesel propulsion), and the 1962 Blohm+Voss excursion ship Wappen von Hamburg, which briefly carried the Alte Liebe name from 1966 to 1982. It is worth double-checking which specific vessel any given reference, photo, or kit box actually depicts before starting a build.