Large Crane

[Peter G. ShawParticipant @peterg-shaw75338]

My sister in Haugesund, Norway sent me this photo of a very large crane ship – 222 meters high!!

Photo courtesy Heather R Waage

She says that few docks can accommodate the ship, but "lil ol' Haugesund can!!!"

You can get some idea of the size of this thing by looking at the windows in the buildings, and an even better impression by using Google Street View to find the blue & yellow building adjacent to the crane, (Aibel, Nordsjohall).

Enjoy.

Peter G. Shaw

Edited By Peter G. Shaw on 04/04/2020 19:55:44

[Peter G. ShawParticipant @peterg-shaw75338]

[David Davies 8Participant @daviddavies8]

Peter

one wonders how such a crane can perform lifts as it looks capable of doing without rolling. It would be interesting to know how a stable counterbalance is achieved.

thanks for posting!

Dave

[Pete RimmerParticipant @peterimmer30576]

A job I did we used a 425tonnes capacity Sheerleg "Norma" out of Zebrugge to lift up to 400 tonnes on the river Medway. The Norma has since been scrapped but I bet that ship in the pic above could have picked her out of the water 😀

[John Ockleshaw 1Participant @johnockleshaw1]

Thanks Peter for your post.

You can read more about this 14000 ton capacity crane by Googleing

Saipem 7000 and at the bottom of the screen click on Brochure

John

[Jim Butler 1Participant @jimbutler1]

A bit of googling tells me that it is the SSCV Sleipnir, and it is currently en-route from Haugesund to Stavanger, look here:

LEIPNIR”>https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:5917736/mmsi:374887000/imo:9781425/vesselLEIPNIR

The two cranes each have a lifting capacity of 10,000 tonnes.

More information here:

**LINK**

David Davis asks:

"one wonders how such a crane can perform lifts as it looks capable of doing without rolling. It would be interesting to know how a stable counterbalance is achieved."

When performing a big lift, the cranes do not swivel, the are positioned over the end of the vessel and pick up their load as a straight lift off a barge which is positioned between the crane and the final position of the load.

The barge moves out of the way and the crane vessel moves forward to where the load is to be placed, the cranes then lower the load in to place.

The crane vessel is kept level by sea water being pumped in/out of the ballast tanks.

I have never actually seen it done, but I have seen pictures and video of the operation several times.

I have even stayed on board a similar crane vessel, the Hermod, in the North Sea way back in the mid 1980s, it was BIG. By the time I got there, all the heavy lifting had been done and I was just there staying in the accommodation and shuttling by helicopter to the nearby fixed platform where the work was taking place.

Also, some years ago I made a couple of working visits to Haugesund, a very pleasant place.

JimB

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

Saw that biggie in the Forth last year, even on the horizon it looked impressive

A million tons fully loaded

The Globtic boats looked bigger though because although they were 500,000 tons they were full of air

Looked like a skyscraper on its side, ridiculous looking boats

[JourneymanParticipant @journeyman]

This image reveals that there is a lot going on beneath the surface.

More info on the *** Heerema *** website.

John

[Philip BurleyParticipant @philipburley44197]

one of my last jobs in the saw mill was part time operator of a 7 ton Derrick crane with a 90 foot jib , An old one with only one motor for lifting and for moving the jib you had to de clutch and engage a gear to lift the jib while holding the load on the foot brake , Very hairy sometimes . and sometimes in windy conditions you would slew one way slowly and as you came back with the wind behind you had be carful it didn't run away with you , Quite near a main railway line as well but that's another story

Phil

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

They are like icebergs, there's a lot going on underneath

The pumproom guys will be kept busy

Bet she rolls like a pig in any swell

[MeunierParticipant @meunier]

Did a contract in early '90s in Rotterdam on the 17th floor of an office building overlooking the quayside on the Maas.
The SmitTak floating crane barges would occasionally park outside the office and we would watch the crew shimmying up the ladders to the jib? boom? tops to grease the pulleys – we had to look up at them overhead from 17th flr.
DaveD

Edited By Meunier on 05/04/2020 20:15:39

[Paul KempParticipant @paulkemp46892]

Because it's like an iceberg it won't roll much and in any case it will have a weather limitation on it I would expect.

Paul.

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

They probably have stabilisation stuff too, like with the posh cruise ships

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Adding to Paul Kemp's entry : –

I worked for a small electronics manufacturer back in the late 1970s- 1980s, at the height of North Sea oil and gas exploration; and among the things we built were wind and roll monitoring units for these huge floating cranes.

I forget what sort of transducers they used as well as an anemometer; but the part that was in the crane driver's cab was a standard cabinet the size of a small wardrobe, with displays showing wind speed and direction, levels, load, etc.

They looked a treat – magnolia paintwork to "exhibition standard", chrome-plated handles on the individual units, screen-printed panels…

Then one came back in a bit of state, several weeks after it had left our premises in Weymouth. Transferring it from lorry to supply-ship in Aberdeen Harbour, they managed to drop it, luckily on the quay not in the oggin. Even so, it fell face-down, the handles taking the full force so bending them, distorting the panels and damaging the finish.

Then to add insult to injury they didn't put it in a nice dry warehouse while arranging speedy return for repairs. They merely chucked a sheet over it. There it stood, forlorn and unloved for those weeks on the dockside while the usual obstacles to efficiency, common-sense and initiative – the insurers – argued over fault, transport and repair costs, etc. etc. By which time, rust was setting in, delicate electrical contacts becoming verdigris, labels deteriorating…

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