Liebherr sends off first crane components for OHT Alfa Lift

Deck cargo ship BigLift Barentsz has left the port of Rostock, Germany, with the first two main components of the Liebherr crane destined for OHT’s new wind farm foundation installation vessel Alfa Lift.

The slewing platform and the A-frame of the upcoming heavy lift crane HLC 150000 are on their way to the shipyard of China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) in the Jiangsu province.

When the installation of the two components is finalized, the boom will be delivered just-in-time to complete the HLC 150000, Liebherr said.

“The crane can only be assembled and installed once the vessel has reached a specific phase in its construction. Therefore, the manufacturing timelines are finely balanced between Liebherr, OHT, and CHMI,” said Gregor Levold, Sales Director of Ship and Offshore Cranes at Liebherr Rostock.

“Another important element of the partnership with OHT is our support and guidance for the initial setup of the crane onboard Alfa Lift. Due to the extensive experience of our experts, a team of Liebherr specialists will travel to China and support with supervision for the installation, commissioning and testing process (ICT) of the HLC 150000 at the shipyard.”

CMHI, which is constructing Alfa Lift under an order received from OHT in July 2018, cut the first steel for the vessel on 1 March 2019.

In November the same year, the vessel was selected to work on its first project which includes the transport and installation of monopile foundations and transition pieces at Dogger Bank A and Dogger Bank B wind farms in the UK.

Alfa Lift‘s crane will have a maximum lifting capacity of 3,000t at 30m and 1,000t at 76m outreach. The 216.3m vessel will also have a 10,000+ m² “smart deck” that can carry up to 14 giant monopiles per trip and will be fully submersible to a depth of 14.66m.