A heavy lift ship is a vessel designed to move loads that
cannot be handled by normally equipped ships. They are : semi-submersibles capable of lifting another ship out of the water and transporting it; and vessels that augment unloading facilities at inadequately equipped ports. Heavy lift ships, with cranes with a combined lift capacity of hundreds of tons, can easily lift super heavy cargoes and carry super long cargoes up to 100 meters on the main deck. The box- shape hold can be adjusted to multiple decks. The ships are regarded as the right carriers for whole set of equipment and project cargoes. Heavy Lift Vessels are specifically designed to carry heavy or oversized cargo. These vessels meet the rising demand for block or modular transportation for fully assembled plants and/or equipment. Most of the heavy lift ships are self-sustaining diversified cargo handlers. They can be equipped with gantry or telescopic auxiliary cranes for the conventional load-on/ load-off ramps for Ro-Ro movements, and have semi-submersible capabilities to accommodate float-on/float-off operations. In some instances operators extend their activities to cover inland transit with multi-wheeled self-propelling transporters enabling carriage of cargo from the point of manufacture to final destination. . The term "heavy lift ship" is ambiguous. By one definition, a heavy lift ship is an ocean-going vessel capable of submerging its large open deck to well below the water's surface, thus allowing another vessel to be floated over it and landed on a dry-dock-build mounted on the heavy lift ship's deck. The heavy lift ship then rises out of the water by pumping out its ballast tanks in a process very similar to the operation of a floating dry-dock. The transported vessel then rides on the deck of the heavy lift ship for the voyage to its destination. This type of ship is also known more precisely as a Float-On / Float-Off [ FLO-FLO] Ship By another definition, a heavy-lift ship is a ship that is specially designed and capable of loading and unloading heavy and bulky items. It typically has booms of sufficient capacity to accommodate a single lift of over 100 tons. This might be better known as a Crane Ship. The Crane Ship mission is to off-load containers and other outsized cargo from non self-sustaining cargo ships offshore, or at bare or underdeveloped ports. A semi-submersible heavy-lift ship, or also known as a "flo/flo" (for float-on/float-off), has a long and low well deck between a forward pilot house and an after machinery space. In superficial appearance, it is somewhat similar to a dry bulk carrier or some forms of oil tanker. Its ballast tanks can be flooded to lower the well deck below the water's surface, allowing oil platforms, other vessels, or other floating cargo to be moved into position for loading. The tanks are then pumped out, and the well deck rises to shoulder the load. To balance the cargo, the various tanks can be pumped unevenly. construction of a heavy lift vessel The Nordic Heavy crane vessel will measure 181 x 46 m and with a depth of 16 m. Its draft will range between 7-11 m. Being a ship shaped vessel as opposed to a semisubmersible design, the Vessel will be able to perform a speed of 13-14 knots when transiting from one major operating area to another, meaning that a typical North Sea to the U.S. Gulf transit would take about 15 days, U.S. Gulf to West Africa (Angola) about 20 days and West Africa (Angola) to the North Sea (Rotterdam) about 15 days. Semisubmersible crane vessels would typically use at least twice the time. The Vessel's propulsion system includes two 5.5 MW main thrusters. In addition in order to comply with DP 3 requirements, the Vessel has four retractable thrusters; each of 3.2 MW and a bow thruster of 2.7 MW. The retractable thrusters can also provide additional thrust during transit. The Vessel will be equipped with six 5.765 MW Rolls Royce / Bergen Diesel generator sets. The Vessel will be equipped with a 5,000 tonne revolving mast crane which has been designed and developed by Huisman Special Equipment BV of Schiedam, the Netherlands .The Vessel can lift a maximum of 5,000 tonnes over the stern and 4,000 tonnes revolving. The crane capacity is further described under Crane Diagram. For general support, the Vessel will be equipped with a 40-tonne fixed knuckle-boom crane which will be located on the forward starboard deck area of the Vessel. The Vessel will also be equipped with a [ ] tonne crawler crane. The Vessel's features include deepwater lowering capability which is summarized in the table under Subsea Lowering Capability. The Vessel has a clear deck of about 5,500 m². It further has a deckload of 10 tonnes/m² throughout meaning that it can transport reasonably large modules over long ocean distances thus reducing the need for barges or other transportation units, reducing interface needs. On the Vessel's starboard side, extra strengthening is provided for future potential installation of pipelaying facility. References