Dutch crane specialist Huisman has lifted the first batch of offshore wind monopiles with its 2,600mt Skyhook quayside crane at its facility in China. The monopiles with a length of approximately 100m have a weight of approx. 1,700mt excluding rigging.
"With the 2,600mt Skyhook, Huisman has designed and built the largest Slewing Jib Quayside Crane in the world," the company said.
The Skyhook crane, employed at Huisman's near Xiamen, China, was designed for load-outs of heavy equipment, like the 10,000mt Tub Mounted Cranes for Heerema’s Sleipnir construction support vessel and the 3,000mt ƶijϻ Mast Crane for Boskalis.
"With this lift, Huisman demonstrated that the Skyhook is also equipped for offshore wind marshaling ports," Huisman said.
Cees van Veluw, Product Manager Cranes at Huisman: “With the high ambitions for offshore wind in various parts of the world, we see that more permanent yet more flexible lifting solutions are key to further efficiency gains in the logistics chain. The capacity of the Skyhook matches the foundation sizes we see in the near future, while the Dual Main Hoist gives large advantages to easier connection and handling of loads."
"With new marshaling ports being developed worldwide, we see that the Skyhook can contribute to further optimizing the logistics of offshore wind turbines and foundations.” Van Veluw said.
Elsewhere in the offshore wind space, Huisman has recently won a contract to build the crane for the United States’ first Jones Act compliant offshore wind installation vessel. Read more here.