A pair of German 10,380 dwt multi-purpose ships will feature 80-tonne SWL versions of MacGREGOR's GL crane, while the first GLH heavy-lift cranes have been delivered, in this case with a 320-tonne SWL

German shipowner Jorker Ship Management has placed an order with MacGREGOR's Crane division for two shipsets of its GL cranes, each with an 80-tonne lifting capacity at 14m outreach and 32 tonnes at 34m. Two cranes will be installed on each of two 10,380 dwt multi-purpose cargo ships under construction at Damen Shipyards in Galati, Romania. When in tandem the cranes can lift 160 tonnes, offering the flexibility of choosing cargoes that are outside the range of normal multi-purpose vessel operations.

MacGREGOR Cranes' GL-series has established itself as the leading container crane on vessels operating worldwide. With a lifting range from 25 tonnes to 90 tonnes, GL units cover all the normal needs on container ships. The company has now also delivered the first of its new GLH series of cranes designed to cover a range from 100 tonnes to 350 tonnes SWL.

"Although the GLH heavy-lift cranes are a completely new design, they benefit from the same basic philosophy developed during long experience of our GL container cranes," says Hans Ohlsson, MacGREGOR Cranes' marketing manager. "This experience includes component selection, and how the whole system works together. The main difference is that a heavy-lift crane incorporates a higher degree of redundancy, such as a double-pump system and a further developed CC2000 crane control system."

On May 11 the first two 320-tonne SWL heavy-lift cranes were delivered to Shanghai Shipyard. They were ordered by the Polish/Chinese owner Chipolbrok for its series of four 30,000 dwt general cargo vessels being built at the yard. The weight of each crane housing is 113 tonnes with a height of 15m, and the jibs are 63 tonnes each with a length of 38m. The cranes were transported on a 48-wheel trailer from L¼zhou to the Yangtze river, and then to Shanghai Shipyard by barge.

MacGREGOR Cranes won this contract in January last year. Each vessel is being equipped with two GLH heavy-lift and two standard GL cranes. The heavy-lift versions are able to work in tandem to handle cargoes of over 600 tonnes, and the GL cranes have an SWL of 50 tonnes each. The lifting moment for these GLH cranes equates to an impressive 6,500 tonne-metres. At longer outreaches, out to 32m, their SWL will be reduced.

"GLH cranes have the well-known MacGREGOR Cranes 'look': a clean outside surface, with fully enclosed machinery and an internal access," Mr Ohlsson says. "This construction philosophy gives the machinery good protection from the weather. At the same time it lowers the centre of gravity of the crane, which is often of great importance. In this respect we believe our cranes are the best in the market."

The GLH cranes have been manufactured at MacGREGOR Cranes' partner plant L¼zhou Machine Works based in Nanjing, China. They will be installed on board the first vessel at the beginning of June and commissioning is planned for the end of June. L¼zhou Machine Works belongs to the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), and has been selected as MacGREGOR's main manufacturing base for cranes, supplying the growing shipbuilding industry in China as well as other Asian countries.

The next shipset of cranes is presently being assembled and tested, and will be delivered to the Shanghai Shipyard this summer.

The Chipolbrok ships are also specified with MacGREGOR high-stowing folding-type covers for the five weatherdeck hatches, supported by Flexipad bearing pads. MacGREGOR's hatch cover outfit for the tweendecks will incorporate both high-stowing folding-type sets and lift-away sets.