New MacGregor Offshore Fibre-Rope Crane
A new MacGregor offshore fibre-rope crane has been developed using its proven offshore crane technology and fibre-rope tensioning systems from Parkburn Precision Handling Systems.
The simple-to-operate fibre-rope lifting system with Parkburn’s unique tensioning technology eliminates the heating and degradation associated with on-load fibre ropes stored on winch drums and accommodates splice non-uniformities.
“This is an important advance for handling loads at depth,” said MacGregor R&D and technology VP Baard Trondahl Alsaker.
“The advantage of fibre-rope in this context is it weighs virtually nothing in water, so regardless of the length paid out, it does not add to the load experienced by the crane. This is in contrast to wire rope, where the weight of wire paid out limits the load permissible in relation to depth.”
The new crane is being introduced as a 150-tonne fully heave-compensated knuckle boom crane capable of reaching 4000m of water depth, but will be extended to the complete MacGregor subsea crane fleet. It is also suitable for retrofitting.