Worlds biggest gantry crane christened

Yantai Raffles Shipyard Limited (YRS) , the largest builder of semi-submersible drilling rigs in China, has reached a new milestone with the christening of the world?s first fixed dual-beam gantry crane with an enormous lifting capacity at 20,000 tonnes.

The new state-of-the-art facility at the Yantai shipyard is named ?Taisun?, and the Christening ceremony held on 18 April included a demonstration of the crane hoisting up a 20,133 tonne launching barge 30 meters above the water. Independent party ABS witnessed the lift and presented the yard with a ?Witness Load Testing? certificate, confirming the capacity of ?Taisun? at 20,133 tonnes; a heavy lift world record.

?Taisun? has been earmarked for at least nine lifts over the next 24 months. It will revolutionize the way large offshore projects such as semi-submersibles and FPSOs are built. By providing a perfectly safe, uniquely controllable and highly cost effective way to join super sections of up to 20,000 MT, the hours spent working at great heights will be significantly reduced. As a result, overall project man-hours can be improved upon by up to 2 million, overall build schedules and time-to-market shortened, and safety and quality greatly improved.