Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - The district government of Düsseldorf has rightly classified the special ship "Carl Straat" as a monument after a judgment. A lawsuit by the Federal Republic of Germany as the owner against this decision was unsuccessful, as the Düsseldorf Administrative Court announced on Wednesday. The verdict is not yet legally binding. The Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration can apply to the North Rhine-Westphalian Higher Administrative Court for an appeal.
The dispute is about a 60-year-old diving bell ship with its home port of Duisburg. It is still in use, but it is to be replaced by the new ship "Archimedes". With the diving bell, workers can be lowered to the bottom of waters such as the Rhine in order to anchor buoys there without getting wet, or to salvage duds or wrecked cars.
In the opinion of the administrative court, the placing under protection did not impermissibly interfere with the sovereignty and tasks of the federal government. It is obvious "that there is increased public interest in the preservation and use of the ship, which is unique in its time in terms of construction and function, due to its special importance for human history and for the development of working and production conditions ".
The administrative judges argued that the question raised by the plaintiff about the high costs of maintaining the ship played no role in the assessment of the monument's worth.
A reviewer had certified the "Carl Straat" as a major innovation in diving bell technology and an "enormous role model effect". There is a lot of economic and technical history in the ship - reason enough for the monument protection, said the judge at the hearing in February.
