Stemat Orders Active Heave Compensation HEILA Crane
In June 2015, Stemat signed an order with Heila Cranes for the construction of a new HR4070 active heave compensated crane with a 34 m boom and a 140 t lifting capacity, to be installed on one of its vessels, the Stemat Spirit. The multi-purpose cable lay vessel is able to work offshore and in very shallow areas. It has been used in a large number of wind farm projects.
“The vessel already has a Heila HLRM 340 knuckle boom crane on board. It’s a well-equipped, powerful crane that we use for cargo and deck operations,” says Henk van Wingerden, Manager of Stemat’s Technical Department. “With the changes in demand from clients and to launch and recover the burial tools, Stemat sought a reliable active heave compensated crane with strong offshore capabilities to replace the 300 t crawler crane on the after deck. Therefore Stemat required a tailor-made solution able to fit on our vessel and satisfy our needs in the best possible way. We have a large number of Heila Cranes installed on ships in our fleet, and our long relationship with Heila has given us the confidence to discuss the new crane definition with them,” says Van Wingerden.
Start of the project
“We began discussing this project with Stemat over a year ago,” says Massimo Magli, Sales & Marketing Manager at Heila. “We understood the importance of perfectly understanding their needs and devising the best solution. We are proficient in customised projects and distinguish ourselves by designing and constructing custom-made marine and offshore cranes that perfectly match the customer’s requirements with a very competitive lead time. Our preliminary analysis was followed by several technical meetings with the client which focused on optimizing the project. Our main goal was always to answer and solve all of the customer’s requests in the best possible way.”
The result: an active heave compensated subsea crane
The result is a new and unique HEILA active heave compensated (AHC) subsea crane. The new HR4070/30-2BJ jib crane has a machinery room behind the main upper tower and includes a 1320 HP Marine Diesel Caterpillar Engine to provide the necessary power for the crane’s hydraulics and the powerful AHC system on main and auxiliary winches. The AHC system was designed and produced in cooperation with Bosch Rexroth GmbH, ensuring increased performance and reliable and precise control of the heave compensation during deep sea operation and under the most challenging sea conditions.
The crane will be delivered in May 2016 and installed in the 2nd quarter of 2016.