Liebherr will deliver eight all-electric cranes, type LS 800 E, for SAL Heavy Lift and Jumbo’s new Orca class heavy-lift vessels. The completely new developed ship cranes have a maximum lifting capacity of up to 800 tonnes and a radius of up to 39 metres.

The Orca vessels are a joint newbuilding programme involving SAL Heavy Lift and its partner Jumbo Shipping. Two cranes will be installed on each of the four newbuilds.

By combining the capacity of both cranes in tandem mode, cargoes of up to 1600 tonnes can be handled. The innovative ship cranes will make it possible to lift components of the future project cargo while being prepared for the increasing environmental protection requirements.

Also read: SAL and Jumbo order carbon-neutral heavy-lift project vessels together

LS 800 E crane

The LS 800 E will be the largest ship crane Liebherr has built to date. The recently launched crane is designed for the ever heavier and larger cargo. Moreover, the all-electric drive concept supports vessel operators in saving CO2 emissions. It is SAL Heavy Lift’s first newbuilding project with Liebherr.

The crane manufacturer was actively involved in the development of the Orca class from day one. Since the “Orca” class of ship breaks new ground in many respects and will significantly raise the bar in the relevant transport segment, the crane developers were also challenged to rethink many details in addition to general requirements, and performance parameters. Moreover, they wanted to make their contribution to the efficiency and innovation of the ship concept.

All-electric cranes

Apart from fulfilling the demanding operational requirements and different cargo scenarios, the new Liebherr cranes enable significant savings in smart interaction with the innovations on the ship side. The new LS 800 E actively communicates with the ship’s power management system and thus enables intelligent energy utilisation.

Recovered energy is fed back into the ship’s energy system and stored so that it can be released when energy consumption is high again. This leads to a noticeably reduced fuel consumption and a considerable reduction of CO2 emissions on the Orca ships.

The entire power electronics of the drive system are installed inside the cranes. This allows the limited space below deck to be used for other purposes and facilitates the integration of the crane into the ship’s design.

Liebherr will supply all-electric cranes for SAL and Jumbo's Orca class heavy lift vessels.
The LS 800 E has a lifting capacity of up to 800 tonnes and a total radius of 39 metres.

High durability

The integration of the entire drive concept inside the crane also significantly increases the durability of the components, as they are protected from the weather.

‘The reliability of the cranes is extremely important for heavy-lift vessels. They must function for the entire life of the vessel,’ explains Dr Martin Harren, CEO of the Harren Group, which owns SAL Heavy Lift. ‘The family-run company Liebherr offers a convincing overall package for this, thanks to its wide-ranging product and technology knowledge as well as its worldwide service network.’

Also read: [VIDEO] How Jumbo-SAL shipped three assembled cranes in one go

Ready for future requirements

The LS 800 E cranes are aimed for a growing market of shipping large wind industry components. In the future, these will not be manageable with the lifting capacities and dimensions that have been common in the market so far.

The all-electric drives are already preparing the cranes for future environmental protection requirements in terms of energy efficiency and emissions regulation.

Picture (top): The four multipurpose heavy lift vessels of the “Orca” project will each be completed with two all-electric Liebherr LS 800 E ship cranes.

Also read: ‘Installation vessel Orion was whiplash proof, but its crane was not’