Everything about Crane Vessel totally explained
A
crane vessel,
crane ship or
floating crane is a
ship that's specialized in lifting heavy loads. The largest crane vessels are often used for
offshore construction. The larger vessels are often
semi-submersibles, but also conventional
monohulls are used. One of the differences with a
sheerleg is that the cranes can rotate.
History
In medieval Europe, crane vessels which could be flexibly deployed in the whole port basin were introduced as early as the 14th century.
In
1920, the
1898-built
battleship was converted to a crane ship when a
crane with a capacity of 250 tons was installed. Later it was renamed
Crane Ship No. 1. It was used, amongst other things, to place guns and other heavy items on battle ships under construction. Another remarkable feat was the raising of the in
1939.
In
1949 J. Ray McDermott had the
Derrick Barge Four built, a barge that was outfitted with a 150 tons revolving crane. The arrival of this type of vessel changed the direction of the
offshore construction industry. Instead of constructing
oil platforms in parts, jackets and decks could be built onshore as modules. For use in the shallow part of the
Gulf of Mexico, the cradle of the offshore industry, these barges sufficed.
In
1963 Heerema converted a
Norwegian tanker, the
Sunnaas, into a crane vessel with a capacity of 300 tons, the first one in the offshore industry that was ship-shaped. It was renamed
Global Adventurer. This type of crane vessel was better adapted to the harsh environment of the
North Sea.
In
1978 Heerema had two semi-submersible crane vessels built, the
Hermod and the
Balder, each with one 2000
ton and one 3000 ton crane. Later both were upgraded to a higher capacity. This type of crane vessel was much less sensitive to sea swell, so that it was possible to operate on the North Sea during the winter months. The high
stability also allowed for heavier lifts than was possible with a monohull. The larger capacity of the cranes reduced the installation time of a
platform from a whole season to a few weeks. Inspired by this success similar vessels were built. In
1985 the
DB-102 was launched for McDermott, with two cranes with a capacity of 6000 tons each. Micoperi had the
M7000 built in
1986 with two cranes of 7000 tons each.
However, in the mid 1980s the
boom in the offshore industry was over, resulting in collaborations. In
1988 a
joint venture between Heerema and McDermott was formed, HeereMac. In
1990 Micoperi had to apply for bankruptcy. This enabled
Saipem – in the beginning of the 1970s a large heavy lift contractor, but only a small player in this field at the end of the 80s – to take over the
M7000 in
1995, later renaming it
Saipem 7000. In
1997 Heerema took over the
DB-102 from McDermott after discontinuation of their joint venture. The ship was renamed
Thialf and, after an upgrade in
2000 to twice 7100 tons, it's now the largest crane vessel in the world even if all the world's lifting records belong to the Saipem 7000 (12150t of Sabratha Deck).
Largest crane vessels
| Largest crane vessels |
| Vessel |
Company |
Capacity (mT) |
Type |
| Thialf |
Heerema |
14.200 (2 * 7100 tons) |
Semi-submersible |
| Saipem 7000 |
Saipem |
14.000 (2 * 7000 tons) |
Semi-submersible |
| Hermod |
Heerema |
8.165 (1 * 4536, 1 * 3629) |
Semi-submersible |
| Balder |
Heerema |
6.350 (1 * 3629, 1 * 2722) |
Semi-submersible |
| DB 50 |
J. Ray McDermott |
3.992 |
Monohull |
| Derrick Barge 101 |
J. Ray McDermott |
3.175 |
Semi-submersible |
| DB 30 |
J. Ray McDermott |
2.800 |
Monohull |
| Stanislav Yudin |
Seaway Heavy Lifting |
2.500 |
Monohull |
| Saipem 3000 |
Saipem |
2.177 |
Monohull |
Further Information
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