New crane order underscores German expertise
The Hamburg-based firm says the contract is the biggest of its kind it has ever won, worth NOK120 million (€13.6 million). The order is for an offshore leg-encircling-crane (LEC) which will be mounted on an NG 5500X offshore jack-up platform called Apollo, ordered from Croatia’s Uljanik Shipyard by Belgium’s DEME.
DEME’s Ann Wittemans told the Motorship the Apollo, for delivery in 2017, will be 87.5m long and 42m wide and have three main dual-fuel engines and four CPP thrusters.
The electro-hydraulic TTS NMF crane is designed to revolve around each of Apollo’s four 106m jack-up legs. It can lift 800t at 25m outreach and more than 120t at 85m outreach. There is an auxiliary hoist hub of 30t capacity at 92m outreach. Lifting height above deck is 120m and the crane boasts safe deck operation and high hoisting, luffing and slewing speeds, the builders said.
Marc Muehlenbeck at TTS NMF told The Motorship the new crane order was “of great significance for the Hamburg/Neuenfeld location” and “underscores TTS NMF expertise in heavy-lift cranes and future oriented ship crane design”. He said construction of the crane would start early 2016 and that it would be delivered in the second half of 2017. The crane’s power house and platform are being built in Hamburg while the boom, mast and foundation base will be built under supervision at Uljanik.
NMF became part of TTS in 2012. It has built 4,000 cranes and specialises in heavy lift cranes of between 150t and 1000t. It has already sold two of its new Uljanik cranes – modified 900t LEC heavy lift units. One is on the 139m Sietas-built offshore maintenance and construction ship Aeolus which entered service with van Oord just last year.
