Cargotec to build offshore crane

MacGregor, part of Cargotec, has secured a contract with Otto Candies to deliver an active heave compensated FibreTrac offshore crane. The crane is expected to be delivered by the end of the year.

MacGregor will build and deliver a 150 tonne capacity crane (Photo: Cargotec)

The company will provide the 150 tonne capacity AHC crane, rated for the customer’s needs at 100 tonne lifting capacity, together with Lankhorst Lanko Deep Dyneema DM20 fibre rope for 3,400 metres operational depth.

The crane is the first of its type and provides the ability to lift heavy loads at depths that normally require much larger cranes on larger vessels.

Full payload

The crane will use neutrally buoyant fibre rope with an applied fibre termination, connecting directly to the hook, allowing full payload at all depths.

This is in contrast to standard wire-rope cranes, where the weight of the steel wire steadily robs the crane of its lifting capacity as more wire is paid out.

The crane will use neutrally buoyant fibre rope (Photo: Cargotec)

The FibreTrac concept was developed in collaboration with Parkburn Precision Handling Systems, who will deliver the fibre rope Deepwater Capstan (DWC) that gently de-tensions the rope between the high-tension operational side and the low-tension storage side.

Parkburn also developed the crane’s lift line management system which manages rope health monitoring and feedback using a combination of sensor technologies and a usage algorithm developed by DSM.

New standards

The subsea AHC fibre-rope crane will have the world’s first DNV-DRS class notation based on the DNV-ST-E407 standard. This new standard governs how a crane and its rope system can remain continually certified based on real-time measurements of rope health.

The crane will be delivered by the end of 2022 (Photo: Cargotec)

Previous standards have been based on prescriptive rules and periodic inspections.

“The drive for better vessel utilisation and efficiency has never been stronger in the offshore world,” said Jan Erik Pedersen, senior vice president of offshore solutions at MacGregor.

“Thanks to all who have contributed to developing this unique crane which we are very proud to get into operation.”