Open Ship MS Klostersande (Getreidefrachtschiff)

• Other

The "Klostersande," the former flagship of the Köllnflockenwerke (flour mill), operated primarily between Elmshorn and Hamburg until 2000. The year 2000 marked the end of cargo shipping in the port of Elmshorn. At that time, the local company Peter Kölln KGaA ceased operations with the "Klostersande." In 2013, it returned to its former home port—and now serves as a heritage ship. The Büsching & Rosemeyer shipyard in Uffeln (Weser) built the "Klostersande" for the Köllnflockenwerke in 1968, after the Elmshorn-based large-scale mill had become more independent from the freight market by operating used motor cargo vessels. The yacht designer Kurt AH Oehlmann from Lübeck-Travemünde designed the new ship, which is why its lines are reminiscent of a yacht. Kölln primarily used the "Klostersande" to supply itself with raw materials—primarily oats—to the seaport of Hamburg. The "Klostersande" also sailed with third-party cargo between the Rhine and the Kiel Canal. Truck traffic became such strong competition for shipping that Kölln gradually sold his ships. As a result, the Krückau River was no longer dredged. Given the decreasing depth, shipping operations to Elmshorn became so uneconomical that Kölln also sold the "Klostersande" at the end of 2000.