October 28 - BigLift Shipping has celebrated the official naming of the latest addition to its fleet of heavy lift vessels, Happy Star, at Huisman China's yard in Xiamen.
Happy Star, which was built by Ouhua Shipbuilding in China, has a 29 m wide deck and two 900-tonne capacity heavy lift mast cranes, which were built by Huisman and installed in Xiamen.
With its high crane pedestals and lengthened jib, BigLift claims that Happy Star has a lifting height unmatched in the worldwide fleet of heavy lift vessels.
The new vessel is 156 m long and has a deadweight of 18,374 tonnes. Happy Star features a large cargo hold and open deck area, as well as pontoon type hatch covers and a large poop deck.
Happy Star's tween deck is adjustable in height and the ship is allowed to sail with open weather deck hatches at a draught of up to 8 m. The vessel also has Finnish/Swedish 1A Ice Class notation.
The first voyage of the latest addition to BigLift's fleet will see Happy Star travel from Nantong to Port Hedland, Australia, where she will discharge two wharf deck modules, each weighing 1,600 tonnes with lifting gear included.
