A crane vessel, crane ship or floating crane is a

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

with a crane specialized in lifting heavy loads. The largest crane vessels are used for

offshore construction Offshore construction is the installation of structures and facilities in a marine environment, usually for the production and transmission of electricity, oil, gas and other resources. It is also called maritime engineering. Construction a ...

. Conventional

monohull right A monohull is a type of boat having only one hull, unlike multihulled boats which can have two or more individual hulls connected to one another. Fundamental concept Among the earliest hulls were simple logs, but these were generally unst ...

s are used, but the largest crane vessels are often catamaran or

semi-submersible Semi-submersible may refer to a self-propelled vessel, such as: * Heavy-lift ship, which partially submerge to allow their cargo (another ship) to float into place for transport *Narco-submarine, some of which remained partially on the surface * ...

types as they have increased stability. On a

sheerleg A floating sheerleg (also: shearleg) is a floating water vessel with a Crane (machine), crane built on shear legs. Unlike other types of crane vessel, it is not capable of rotating its crane independently of its hull. There is a huge variety in ...

crane, the crane is fixed and cannot rotate, and the vessel therefore is manoeuvered to place loads.

History

In medieval Europe, crane vessels which could be flexibly deployed in the whole port basin were introduced as early as the 14th century. During the age of sail, the

sheer hulk A hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. Hulk may be used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, an abandoned wreck or shell, or to refer to an old ship that has had its rigging or internal equipment ...

was used extensively as a floating crane for tasks that required heavy lift. At the time, the heaviest single components of ships were the main masts, and sheer hulks were essential for removing and replacing them, but they were also used for other purposes. Some crane vessels had

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

s for propulsion, others needed to be towed with a

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

. In 1920, the 1898-built battleship was converted to a crane ship when a crane with a capacity of 250 tons was installed. Later it was renamed ''Crane Ship No. 1''. It was used, amongst other things, to place guns and other heavy items on other battleships under construction. Another remarkable feat was the raising of the submarine in 1939. In 1942, the crane ships a.k.a. "Heavy Lift Ships" SS ''Empire Elgar'' (PQ16), SS ''Empire Bard'' (PQ15), and SS ''Empire Purcell'' (PQ16) were sent to the Russian Arctic ports of Archangelsk,

Murmansk Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') ...

and Molotovsk (since renamed Sererodvinsk). Their role was to enable the unloading of the Arctic convoys where port installations were either destroyed by German

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an air ...

s or were non existent (as at Bakaritsa quay Archangel). In 1949, J. Ray McDermott had ''Derrick Barge Four'' built, a barge that was outfitted with a revolving crane capable of lifting 150 tons. The arrival of this type of vessel changed the direction of the

industry. Instead of constructing oil platforms in parts, jackets and decks could be built onshore as modules. For use in the shallow part of the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

, the cradle of the offshore industry, these barges sufficed. In 1963, Heerema converted a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

tanker, ''Sunnaas'', into a crane vessel with a capacity of 300 tons, the first one in the offshore industry that was ship-shaped. It was renamed ''Global Adventurer''. This type of crane vessel was better adapted to the harsh environment of the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

Semi-submersible giants

In 1978, Heerema had two semi-submersible crane vessels built, and , each with one 2,000

ton Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean * the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds ...

and one 3,000 ton crane. Later both were upgraded to a higher capacity. This type of crane vessel was much less sensitive to sea swell, so that it was possible to operate on the North Sea during the winter months. The high

stability Stability may refer to: Mathematics *Stability theory, the study of the stability of solutions to differential equations and dynamical systems ** Asymptotic stability ** Linear stability ** Lyapunov stability ** Orbital stability ** Structural sta ...

also allowed for heavier lifts than was possible with a monohull. The larger capacity of the cranes reduced the installation time of a

platform Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...

from a whole season to a few weeks. Inspired by this success similar vessels were built. In 1985 ''DB-102'' was launched for McDermott, with two cranes with a capacity of 6,000 tons each. Micoperi ordered ''M7000'' in 1986, designed with two cranes of 7,000 tons each. However, due to an oil glut in the mid 1980s, the boom in the offshore industry was over, resulting in collaborations. In 1988, a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and economic risk, risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four rea ...

between Heerema and McDermott was formed, HeereMac. In 1990 Micoperi had to apply for bankruptcy.

Saipem Saipem S.p.A. (Società Anonima Italiana Perforazioni E Montaggi lit. ''Drilling and Assembly Italian Public Limited Company'') is an Italian multinational oilfield services company and one of the largest in the world. Until 2016 it was a subsid ...

– in the beginning of the 1970s a large heavy lift contractor, but only a small player in this field at the end of the 1980s – acquired ''M7000'' from Micoperi in 1995, later renaming it . In 1997 Heerema took over ''DB-102'' from McDermott after discontinuation of their joint venture. The ship was renamed and, after an upgrade in 2000 to twice 7,100 tons. ''Thialf'' can use both cranes to lift at a radius of ; in comparison, ''Saipem 7000'' can use both cranes to lift a smaller load of at a wider radius of .

Lifting records

A heaviest single lift record was set in 2000 by ''Thialf'' for lifting the Shearwater topsides for Shell. ''Saipem 7000'' set a new record in October 2004 for the lift of Sabratha Deck. Under dynamic positioning, ''Saipem 7000'' set another record in 2010 by lifting the BP Valhall Production topsides. Shortly after it was completed, ''Sleipnir'' completed a record lift of for the topsides of the Leviathan project for

Noble Energy Noble Energy, Inc. was a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration headquartered in Houston, Texas. In October 2020, the company was acquired by Chevron Corporation. The company was known as Noble Affiliates, Inc. until 2002. As of December ...

, in September 2019.

Heavy lift vessels

References

External links