"It is irresponsible, especially in the summer months when we have to do a lot of operations on the Rhine, to sabotage our emergency boat by deliberately stealing boat parts," said deputy city fire inspector Dirk Zimmermann. What had happened. On Wednesday afternoon, the fire boat of the LE Mondorf, which is moored in the Mondorf harbour, was to be lowered into the water by means of a lifting device.

It turned out that thieves had been at work on the two 80-horsepower outboard motors. The thief or thieves had carefully dismantled the propeller, drive shaft, shift linkage and gearbox. The thieves hijacked a small dinghy, which is also moored in Mondorf harbour, to transport their loot away, according to the assumption of the water police who were called in. But not only the fire brigade was affected, but also the DLRG. The outboard motor of their emergency boat was also partially dismantled, and here too, just like on the fire brigade's boat, the propeller, drive shaft, shift linkage and gearbox are missing. Both boats are currently not manoeuvrable.

The owner of the dinghy also suffered damage, although his boat was in the harbour, because the thieves had taken the complete outboard motor. He estimated the damage caused by the loss of his 25-horsepower engine at 4,500 Euro. The maintenance company, which inspected the fireboat in the evening, estimates the total damage to be around 7,000 Euro.

According to current knowledge, the thieves must have struck during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday. The probability that several perpetrators were involved is relatively high, because the outboard motor of the dinghy alone weighs 60 kg. According to the maintenance company, it takes an expert about 20 minutes per engine to remove the stolen goods. The stolen parts, all of which are not numbered and thus difficult to trace, however, only fit one particular engine and cannot be used at will.

Original text: Dieter Hombach

Translation: Mareike Graepel