With its 25 green sails, the Alexander von Humboldt gained international renown as a publicity vessel for "Beck´s Bier". It has 1035m² of sail area on three masts, the largest mast towering 34m into the air, the ship measures over 60m in length and weighs in at over 800t when loaded and with a 23-man crew. After undergoing several refurbishments and conversions, in 1988 the ship was named Alexander von Humboldt after the German naturalist and explorer.
Now the impressive sailing ship is to be used as a hotel and restaurant on the River Weser in Bremen. However, its final journey required the removal of its masts so that it could pass under several bridges on its way to the Schlachte.
The masts were removed at the Louis Krages Pier using the 200t LTM 1200-5.1 mobile crane. The HS 853 HD crawler crane, stationed on a barge immediately next to the Alexander von Humboldt, was used to refit the masts once the ship had arrived at the Schlachte.
The LTM 1200-5.1, stationed on the riverbank, installed the yard arms which are round rods which are fitted to the mast perpendicular to the direction of travel. It was also used for working from basket which was required for the intricate installation work.
The special challenge for the mobile crane was the constricted space available on the bank, the promenade directly next to the ship was too narrow. It therefore had to be assembled at St Martins Church despite the fact that the available space was very narrow as a result of having to leave the full width of a rescue route clear. That meant that the LTM 1200-5.1 had to work with a radius of 65m, hoisting weights of up to 2.8t.
