The world’s biggest shear-leg floating crane Hyundai-10000 starts operations
On April 21, Hyundai-10000, Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI)’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, the company said in its press release.
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 180-meter-long crane booms and two sets of 70 m high back stay. The crane is operable with the control of 16 sets of main hoisting winches, eight sets of jib hoisting winches and 72mm and 54mm wire ropes which are 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 +/-100 mm when it lifts up a 50 meter-long cargo.
