MacGregor, part of Cargotec, has developed a fiber-rope crane. The crane features a fiber-rope lifting system and is designed to eliminate the heating and degradation problems associated with on-load fiber ropes stored on winch drums. Also, it can accommodate non-uniformities resulting from splices in the rope.
The crane combines Parkburn Precision Handling Systems’ fiber-rope tensioning technology with MacGregor’s offshore crane technology.
"This is an important advance for handling loads at depth," said Baard Trondahl Alsaker, MacGregor's vice president of research, development, and technology. "The great advantage of fiber rope in this context is that it weighs virtually nothing in water, so regardless of the length of rope paid out, it does not add anything to the load experienced by the crane. This is in complete contrast to the situation with wire rope, where the ever increasing weight of wire paid out limits the load permissible in relation to depth."
The new crane will be introduced to the market as a 150-tonne fully heave-compensated knuckle boom crane with capability of reaching 4000m of water depth, but the offering will be extended to the complete range of MacGregor subsea crane fleet.
Image: Fiber-rope crane/MacGregor
