In the offshore and (heavy) lifting industry boundaries are pushed constantly. We aim for deeper water, larger vessels, heavier lifts, explore the arctic and consequently need to adapt methods and equipment to withstand the brute forces of the environment. It is very rewarding to see companies you are dealing with and/or working for, are spending a lot of time and effort on engineering, in order to meet the new requirements.
For example, GN Rope Fittings. 40 years ago primarily aiming at the local fishing industry, now a leader in fittings for ropes, wire and chains for mooring and lifting purposes. Not only “standard” equipment, but also custom-made solutions for subsurface applications and lots of other stuff. Where in the past a 100 tonnes shackle was a beast, nowadays a staggering 2000 tonnes sling protector shackle ranks no. 1. Mind you, 2000 tonnes is the safe working load, it has a safety factor of 4, so it will not fail until a load of more than 8000 tonnes is applied. That is close to 11000 Smart cars…
H14 Sling Protector Shackle – up to 2000 tonnes SWL
GN Rope Fittings’ sister company, De Haan Special Equipment is also looking for bigger. Take their enormous crane block, designed for the largest mobile crane in the world. You might wonder if there is a reason to get excited about a crane block. Well, yes there is. Actually there are multiple reasons:
We are talking about a modular block, with an SWL of 3000 tonnes, to be used in 14 different configurations, can contain 30 sheaves (!) in its biggest configuration, has a weight of 110 tonnes (!) and stands almost 10 meters tall.
3000 tonnes modular mobile crane block
Where GN Rope Fittings and De Haan Special Equipment meet, nice things can develop. Have a look at this CR swivel. Designed to swivel under full load and submerged. Relatively small, very compact and incredibly strong. Impressive picture, right?
CR5-swivel being tested in Stavanger
Our friends at Tideland are taking another approach, their products tend to become smaller and more power efficient, but then again, they are not into mooring and lifting. They are into marking. Marking of rigs, FPSO’s, buoys, ports and waterways. Highly innovative in terms of generating sufficient light intensity at the lowest possible power consumption. They are capable of reaching 18 nautical mile with LED technology. But in all honesty, what I like most is their new Nova-65 lantern. It’s performance in terms of visibility range is impressive: over 5 nm with 20 degrees vertical divergence. The power consumption is equally impressive: up to only 10 watts maximum. But most impressive is the way they have put these lanterns to the test: epic.
Sit back, relax and enjoy the show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkSBO9xagxw
Not convinced?
Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtQOIHHyuO0&feature=plcp
So yeah, it’s all about being bigger, better and tougher.
Disclaimer: if this post looks like an advertisement to you, congratulations, you’re spot on. But hey, I love my job, am deeply impressed with the above mentioned developments and if I do make a sale because of this blog, you’ll find me driving my classic car next summer in a town near you!
All Hands on Deck!!! 