SAL Heavy Lift Completes Africa Move

AL Heavy Lift's Frauke has completed a six-month project transporting oversize cargoes for a West African offshore development.

Two empty carousels - each measuring 12 m high by 26 m wide and tipping the scales at 620 tonnes - were loaded onboard the heavy lift vessel in Netherlands and exported to the USA. Stateside, more than 2,000 tonnes of umbilicals were spooled onto the carousels.

The carousels, now weighing 1,465 tonnes and 1,875 tonnes respectively, were then shipped onboard Frauke to the West African project site. Frauke remained onsite for two months, providing support to the dedicated installation vessel. Upon completion of the works, Frauke was tasked with re-delivering the empty carousels back to the Netherlands.

A special challenge within this project was the weight spreading calculation on the hatch covers, explained SAL Heavy Lift. The stability of the hatch covers was ensured with tailor-made steel supports, which were installed beneath each cover. In addition, a special grillage was designed to spread the weight of the heavier carousel. These extensive measures guaranteed the safe handling and transport of the cargo for the entire project duration.