With the delivery of two heavy-lift mast cranes (HLMC) for Spliethoff, Huisman has reached a track record of 100 mast cranes. The first one of its kind, built in 1984, is still performing today aboard BigLift Shipping’s heavy lift vessel Happy Buccaneer.
The two HLMCs installed on Spliethoff’s new build heavy lift vessel Brouwersgracht have a lifting capacity of 500 mt each, making the vessel suitable for both heavy-lift transportation and offshore installation. Huisman mast crane designs are characterised by their low weight, high capacity, optimisation of free deck space and vessel stability during (off)loading.
‘With our newbuilding vessels Brouwersgracht and Bloemgracht, we will have eight heavy lift vessels equipped with Huisman heavy-lift mast cranes in our fleet,’ says Arne Hubregtse, member Executive Board of Spliethoff Group. ‘By their excellent crane designs and resulting capabilities, the Huisman cranes have often given us a competitive edge. We look forward to performing challenging projects with the 100th to the 103rd HLMC as well and trust Huisman will keep developing their cranes to support the heavy lift and offshore market with groundbreaking designs.’
David Roodenburg, CEO of Huisman adds: ‘It’s a great honour to celebrate this wonderful milestone with Spliethoff and its group sister BigLift Shipping. Within forty years, we have delivered our first HLMCs for the Happy Buccaneer and our 100th for Spliethoff’s latest addition to its fleet. The fact that the Happy Buccaneer’s cranes are still operational is a proof of the robust technology and extensive operational lifetime of this crane design.’
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Fully electric
In 1984, Huisman received the Entrepreneurs Award Heavy Lift Mast Cranes for the design of the 550 mt Happy Buccaneer HLMCs. The innovative and compact design of the full electric HLMC proved to be a real step change in the heavy lift industry. Huisman has been a frontrunner in the electrification of heavy lift cranes to optimise energy efficiency.
Features of the Huisman heavy-lift mast crane are:
- Superior load curve compared to conventional cranes with similar footprint
- Fully electrically driven
- Small foundation required
- Very small tail swing
- Low inherent construction weight
- Low centre of gravity
- Vertical boom storage
- Wirelessly remote controlled
- Improved visibility for the operator
- Super Fly-jib (optional)
- Power regeneration
- Tandem configuration; the two cranes can be operated by a single operator
- Lifting capacity up to 2500 mt
- Overturning moment up to approximately 45,000 tm – higher on request
Spliethoff B-type vessels
Spliethoff’s new B-type vessels combine DP2 station-keeping abilities with the two 500-tonne heavy lift cranes. The newly designed Brouwersgracht and Bloemgracht combine the intake of a multipurpose vessel with a DP2 station-keeping ability of up to Bft 6, making it ideal for supplying large volumes and heavy cargo directly offshore.
The vessels are designed by Conoship and will be able to carry 12,500 tonnes of cargo, have an open top notation and a total of 5900 m2 of available deck space.
Also read: Construction kicks off for Spliethoff’s new offshore supply vessels
