June 20 - On behalf of deugro (Finland), Hansa Heavy Lift has shipped four rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTG) from Ukraine to Egypt on board HHL Kobe.
The cranes - each of which weighed 132 tonnes and had the dimensions 29 m x 12 m x 24 m - were loaded and unloaded by HHL Kobe using its two heavy lift cranes, which have a combined lifting capacity of up to 800 tonnes.
In order to accommodate all four cranes on deck, Hansa explained that a flying deck - an extension platform, consisting of two tween deck pontoons to provide an extended stowage area - was created on board the ship.
"We had to pay special attention in positioning the cargo due to the small tolerance for placing the flying deck and driveway pontoons on hatch covers," said Ian Broad, director of cargo management at Hansa.
"In addition to a structural assessment, several 3D simulations were required during the planning stage due to the height of the cargo, to find the perfect manoeuvre needed to avoid the boom structure of the vessel's cranes coming into contact with the unit during placement."
Once loaded, the first two RTGs were driven to the forward end of the hatch covers using their own electric motors. The third was lifted using the ship's gear and placed on two tween deck pontoons, which then acted as driveway access to the flying deck pontoons.
Once the driveway tween decks had been removed, the fourth and final crane was lifted and placed on the hatch covers between the cranes of HHL Kobe.
"Keeping in close contact with the customer right from the early stages of the project, as well as successful cooperation on site, helped us to eliminate all of the possible risks involved and allowed us to execute the project smoothly," claimed Hansa's chief commercial officer, Joerg Roehl.
