Crane vessel

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Wind Lift I at the harbor in Emden, Germany

A crane vessel, crane ship or floating crane is a ship with a crane specialized in lifting heavy loads. he largest crane vessels are !sed for offshore constr!ction. Conventional monoh!lls are !sed, b!t the largest crane vessels are often catamaran or semi"s!bmersible types as they have increased stability. #n a sheerlegcrane, the crane is fi$ed and cannot rotate, and the vessel therefore is manoe!vered to place loads.
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' (istory ) (eavy lift vessels * +ee also , -eferences . E$ternal links

(istory%edit
/n medieval E!rope, crane vessels which co!ld be fle$ibly deployed in the whole port basin were introd!ced as early as the ',th cent!ry.%'& 0!ring the age of sail, the sheer h!lk was !sed e$tensively as a floating crane for tasks that re1!ired heavy lift. At the time, the heaviest single components of ships were the main masts, and sheer h!lks were essential for removing and replacing them, b!t they were also !sed for other p!rposes.

2++ Kearsarge as Crane Ship No. 1

/n '3)4, the '535"b!ilt battleship 2++ Kearsarge 677".8 was converted to a crane ship when a crane with a capacity of ).4 tons was installed. 9ater it was renamed Crane Ship No. 1.%)& /t was !sed, amongst other things, to place g!ns and other heavy items on battle ships !nder constr!ction. Another remarkable feat was the raising of the 2++ Squalus 6++"'3)8 in '3*3. /n '3,), the Crane +hips aka :(eavy 9ift +hips: ++ Empire Elgar 6;<'=8, ++ Empire Bard 6;<'.8, and ++ Empire Purcell 6;<'=8 were sent to the -!ssian Arctic ports of Archangel, >!rmansk and >olotovsk 6+ince renamed +ererodvinsk8. heir role was to enable the !nloading of the Arctic Convoys where port installations were either destroyed by German bombers or were non e$istent 6as at 7akaritsa 1!ay Archangel8 /n '3,3, ?. -ay >c0ermott had the erric! Barge "our b!ilt, a barge that was o!tfitted with a '.4 tons

revolving crane. he arrival of this type of vessel changed the direction of the offshore constr!ction ind!stry. /nstead of constr!cting oil platforms in parts, @ackets and decks co!ld be b!ilt onshore as mod!les. For !se in the shallow part of the G!lf of >e$ico, the cradle of the offshore ind!stry, these barges s!fficed. /n '3=*, (eerema converted a Aorwegian tanker, the Sunnaas, into a crane vessel with a capacity of *44 tons, the first one in the offshore ind!stry that was ship"shaped. /t was renamed #lo$al %d&enturer. his type of crane vessel was better adapted to the harsh environment of the Aorth +ea.

++CB 'hialf in Aorwegian F@ord

/n '3C5, (eerema had two semi"s!bmersible crane vessels b!ilt, the (ermod and the Balder, each with one )444 ton and one *444 ton crane. 9ater both were !pgraded to a higher capacity. his type of crane vessel

was m!ch less sensitive to sea swell, so that it was possible to operate on the Aorth +ea d!ring the winter months. he high stability also allowed for heavier lifts than was possible with a monoh!ll. he larger capacity of the cranes red!ced the installation time of aplatform from a whole season to a few weeks. /nspired by this s!ccess similar vessels were b!ilt. /n '35. the B)1*+ was la!nched for >c0ermott, with two cranes with a

capacity of =444 tons each. >icoperi had the ,-*** b!ilt in '35= with two cranes of C444 tons each. (owever, in the mid '354s, the boom in the offshore ind!stry was over, res!lting in collaborations. /n '355, a @oint vent!re between (eerema and >c0ermott was formed, (eere>ac. /n '334 >icoperi had to apply for bankr!ptcy. his enabled +aipem D in the beginning of the '3C4s a large heavy lift contractor, b!t only a small player in this field at the end of the 54s D to take over the ,-*** in '33., later renaming it Saipem -***. /n '33C (eerema took over the B)1*+ from >c0ermott after discontin!ation of their @oint vent!re.%*& he ship was

renamed 'hialf and, after an !pgrade in )444 to twice C'44 tons, it is now the largest crane vessel in the world even if all the worldEs lifting records belong to the +aipem C444 6')'.4t of +abratha 0eck8.

(eavy lift vessels%edit&

Vessel Company Capacity (mT) Type

Thialf

Heerema Marine Contractors

14,200[4] (tandem)

Semi-submersible

Saipem 7000

Saipem

14,000[5] (tandem)

Semi-submersible

Svanen

allast !edam

",#00[$]

Catamaran

Hermod

Heerema Marine Contractors

",100[#] (tandem)

Semi-submersible

Lan Jing

C!%%C

#,500["]

Mono&ull

Balder

Heerema Marine Contractors

$,'45['] (tandem)

Semi-submersible

Seven Borealis

Subsea #

5,000[10]

Mono&ull

Oleg Strashnov

Sea(a) Hea*) +i,tin-

5,000[11]

Mono&ull

Vessel

Company

Capacity (mT)

Type

Swiber Kaizen 4000 S(iber %,,s&ore

4,200[12]

Mono&ull

egir[1.][14]

Heerema Marine Contractors

4,000[15]

Mono&ull

!B "0

/0 1a) Mc2ermott

4,400[1$]

Mono&ull

#ambiz

Scaldis

.,.00[1#]

Catamaran

sian Her$%les &&

Smit 3nternational

.,200[1"]

Mono&ull

!B '0'

/0 1a) Mc2ermott

.,500[1$]

Semi-submersible

!B (0

/0 1a) Mc2ermott

.,0"0 [1$]

Mono&ull

LTS (000

+45-SapuraCrest /6

2,#22 [1']

Mono&ull

Sap%ra (000

Sapura7cer-)

2,#22[20]

Mono&ull

Stanislav )%din

Sea(a) Hea*) +i,tin-

2,500[21]

Mono&ull

Saipem (000

Saipem

2,1##[22]

Mono&ull

H%aste$o

8rupo 9rote:a

2,000[2.]

Mono&ull

Tolte$a

C7MS7

2,000[24]

Mono&ull

*%ippo +ra,ash

M2+;<uippo;Sapura /6

2,000[25]

Mono&ull

+ee also%edit&

?ack!p rig 9ist of historical harbo!r cranes