Ueckermünde (dpa / mv) – 15 years after its launch, the wheelchair glider “Wappen von Ueckermünde” has to be technically overhauled in a shipyard. The Schwerin Ministry of Economics is providing around 255,000 euros for the work on the 22-metre-long ocean-going sailing ship, which has been converted to be barrier-free, as the ministry announced on Friday. The total costs should amount to around 350,000 euros. According to previous planning, the work is to be carried out over the winter. However, the operator, the center for experiential education and environmental education in Ueckermünde (Zerum), said the tenders were still being tendered.
The wheelchair sailor, which is suitable for the high seas, is the only one in Germany on which the disabled can sail without barriers on the high seas. It was put into service in 2007 in the presence of the then Federal President Horst Köhler.
The funding is also intended to ensure that the entire Ueckermünde-Torgelow-Eggesin region develops into a barrier-free model region. The tall ship was last used a few days ago at the Hanse-Sail in Rostock.
