For the first time, Liebherr installed its bulk handling crane on a 10m ex-centre arm which, it said, fully satisfied the customer’s demand for heavy-duty offshore transhipment.
The crane covered an operation range of up to a 40m working radius, which is said to have allowed higher flexibility when unloading Panamax size vessels as the crane covered three cargo holds without shifting the crane barge.
“The positioning of the crane, with its 7.5m cabin extension, alongside the vessel, ensured high levels of safety in operation and allowed efficient grab handling due to the improved visibility,” said Liebherr.
“Moreover,” it added, “this configuration allowed shortening of the boom to 30m, which significantly reduced the swing of grab and increased the productivity in transhipment operation with up to 40 cycles per hour.”
The floating crane had been certified according to Lloyd’s Register of Shipping (LRS).
Liebherr offered specific offshore options including specially designed heavy duty hoisting winches, a strengthened boom, heel trim alarm systems and emergency operation functions.
These options allowed crane operation under heavy sea state conditions with wave heights up to 2.5m.
With a maximum lifting capacity of 25t (28USt) in grab operation at 30m working radius, Liebherr claimed the crane achieved an average turnover of 750t/h at calm sea and approximately 600t/h under heavy sea state conditions.
For cleaning up the vessel Tranship Ltd used bulldozers and wheel loaders, which can be lifted inside the vessel with the Liebherr CBG 25/30 in hook operation with a maximum lifting capacity of 30t (33USt) up to 26m working radius.
Transship Ltd, which is based in Odessa, has placed a new order for the new crane barge Atlas-2, which will start operation in early summer 2006.