Hyundai-10000 Floating Crane Completes Ops at Congo's Moho Nord Field

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (HHI) announced Thursday that on April 21, Hyundai-10000, the firm's newest floating crane, succeeded to the throne of “symbol of HHI” from the two 1,600-ton gantry cranes at its offshore yard by lifting a topside module of Moho Nord tension leg platform (TLP) at once.

What makes Hyundai-10000 a successor to the 1,600-ton Goliath cranes is not just because it is new but because it has an unparalleled lifting capacity at one of the world’s biggest offshore yards. Hyundai-10000 can lift subjects about six times heavier than the Goliath crane, hence its name.

Versatile and Sophisticated Handler for Mega Blocks

Hyundai-10000 was put into production at HSHI in October 2013 and was delivered to HHI’s offshore yard in late March this year. Moreover, this is not just the biggest crane HHI has; it is also the world’s biggest shear-leg type floating crane in terms of the lifting capacity. The floating cranes can be categorized into two groups; a shear-leg type in which the crane is fixed on the barge and a revolving type in which the crane is 360 degree rotatable on the hull. The fixed-type floating with shallow draft is more versatile for building ships, bridges and ports.

The 10,000-ton shear-leg floating crane is equipped with two 590 foot (180 meter) long crane booms and two sets of 230 feet (70 meters) high back stay. The crane is operable with the control of 16 sets of main hoisting winches, eight sets of jib hoisting winches and 2.83 inch (72 millimeter) and 2.13 inch (54 millimeter) wire ropes which are 18,701 feet (5,700 meters) long each. The main hook is made of eight sets of 1,250-ton hook. The four sets of 2,200 kW main generators, two sets of 600 kW harbor generators and one set of 100 kW emergency generator produce electricity the crane needs. The vessel also has a ballast system for purifying the sea water the crane takes in while it is on the sea or at berth. To enhance safety, Hyundai-10000 is specially designed to hold objects in the air even in an emergency situation when one of the two wire ropes is compromised. The crane is also engineered to maintain a hook angle of 15 degrees towards starboard/portside and 20 degrees towards the stern to handle the cargo in an optimal condition. The vessel can maintain its horizontal position automatically within a deviation of plus/minus 3.94 inch (100 millimeter) when it lifts up a 164 foot (50 meter) long cargo.

Saving Cost and Streamlining Production Process at the Yard

The world’s largest shear-leg floating crane will surely bring mutual benefits to HHI with the productivity increase and annual cost reduction of $22 million (KRW 24 billion), and to clients with on-time and early delivery of facilities they ordered.

Park Jong-bong, COO of HHI’s Offshore & Engineering Division, said, “Let’s say, the maximum weight of a topside module we can make for FPSO is 1,600 tons. That means if we build a 8,000 ton topside module with the Goliath Crane, our employees have to repeat five times all the same prerequisite works to lift a 1,600 ton module such as hooking the crane’s wire ropes and the modules, and rearranging the cranes to the optimal locations striking perfect balance. However with the Hyundai-10000, HHI can make a single 8,000-ton module, pick it up and install it at one time. It wouldn’t be hard to calculate the man-hours and construction time HHI can save from the streamlined lifting process.”

These benefits are not mere talk but test proven as well. On April 14, Hyundai-10000 lifted up a 6,500-ton top side module of Moho Nord tension leg platform (TLP) HHI secured from Total in March 2013. HHI has carried out engineering, procurement, supply, construction, and commissioning for the offshore facilities to be deployed in Moho Nord field, 50 miles (80 kilometers) off Republic of the Congo’s coast by the second half of this year. The vertically moored floating TLP will be used to extract and transport oil and natural gas to the floating production unit.


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