The ''Tanja'' is an

automobile ferry Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their o ...

, built in 1959, that currently operates the Neu Darchau to Darchau Ferry across the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...

river in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The ship has previously carried the names ''Waal'' and ''Wijkse Veer''.

General information

The ferry itself was built in 1959 at the Scheepswerf en Machinefabriek H. J. Koopman in

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

, Netherlands, and placed in service on 26 March 1960 as the ''Waal''. From 1960 to 1974 it was operated by the Dutch municipality of

Tiel Tiel () is a municipality and a town in the middle of the Netherlands. The town is enclosed by the Waal river and the Linge river to the South and the North, and the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal to the East. Tiel comprises the population centres Kapel- ...

. In 1974 the boat was taken over by the municipality of

Wijk bij Duurstede Wijk bij Duurstede () is a municipality and a city in the central Netherlands. Population centres *Cothen * Langbroek *Wijk bij Duurstede Topography ''Dutch Topographic map of the municipality of Wijk bij Duurstede, 2013.'' City The city ...

. It ran there under the name of ''Wijkse Veer'' until 1993. Since 1993 the boat has been run as the ''Tanja Ferry'' by the municipality of Neu Darchau. The current Tanja replaced a smaller

double-ended ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

of the same name that became the reserve ferry in Neu Darchau in 1997.Wilhelm Langes: ''Baden-Pfalz.'' In: ''Binnenfähren in Deutschland, den Niederlanden und Westeuropa.'' Dortmund 2003. Accessed on 1 August 2009.

Technical information

''Tanja'' is an open, double-ended ferry with ramps at both ends. The wheelhouse is located on a bridge in the centre above the vehicle deck. The ferry has a total length of 45.9 metres, a width of 12.1 metres and a draught of 0.7 metres. Its usable transport length is 30.9 metres, its

carrying capacity The carrying capacity of an environment is the maximum population size of a biological species that can be sustained by that specific environment, given the food, habitat, water, and other resources available. The carrying capacity is defined as t ...

140 tonnes. Up to 21

vehicle A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), wa ...

s or 200 passengers may be carried. The highest weight for a single vehicle is 40 tonnes.
Elbfähre Darchau–Neu Darchau.
'' In: ''Verkehrsinfo Region Hamburg. Schiff & Hafen. Elbfähren.'' Behörde für Stadtentwicklung und Umwelt Hamburg - Amt für Verkehr und Straßenwesen, Hamburg Juni 2003. Accessed on 9 May 2009. The ferry has a top speed of 14 km/h. It is powered by two Scania diesel engines that each drive a

Voith Schneider Propeller The Voith Schneider Propeller (VSP) is a specialized marine propulsion system (MPS) manufactured by the Voith Group based on a cyclorotor design. It is highly maneuverable, being able to change the direction of its thrust almost instantaneously ...

References

{{Coord, 53, 14, 6.33, N, 10, 53, 31.25, E, type:landmark_region:DE-NI, display=title Ferries across Elbe Ferries of Germany Lüchow-Dannenberg Lüneburg (district) Ships built in the Netherlands Transport in Lower Saxony 1959 ships