Case Study – ALE and their AL.SK350 – Video

For Total’s Egina project, ALE was contracted to lift and install six modules from the yard onto their final position on the FPSO. The lift weights were between 335t and almost 3,000t. An engineering feat like this was only achievable by using the AL.SK350 crane, at the time the world’s largest capacity land based crane.

For the 3,000t lift, it was rigged in its biggest configuration with a124m a-frame main boom, 49m ballast radius and a newly developed 38m heavy duty jib for additional outreach, along with a heavy winch system and 4,000t ballast. The jib, with a patented design, was used for the first time on this project. It boosted the overall lifting capacity and extended the outreach so the crane could be strategically positioned to lift from one location.

As the yard at SHI Nigeria’s Lagos facility has restricted space, this configuration was the ideal solution and reduced the overall project schedule. The crane has also provided significant time and cost savings to the client as it has allowed them to build less, yet bigger modules locally.

“The project really showcases the capabilities of the AL.SK350 and the jib to perform some of the world’s heaviest ever crane lifts in a congested site. When combined with the unique heavy duty jib and the largest crane configuration, this represents another record-breaking achievement for ALE,” explained Carlito Alberto, ALE Project Engineer.

For Total the advantages were huge. “Six of the eighteen modules on the FPSO were built and integrated locally, and 77% of hours spent on the project were worked locally. The startup has been achieved close to 10% below the initial budget, which represents more than 1 billion dollars of CAPEX savings, due in particular to excellent drilling performance where the drilling time per well has been reduced by 30%,”

Video

Source ALE & HLN