Shipyard Lift by ALE in Coruña

Marine engineering operations for unexpected shipyard recoveries often need to be performed quickly to minimise costs and reduce disruption to other work. ALE swiftly mobilised its specialist heavy lifting equipment to perform the righting of a ship in A Coruña, Spain, and enable its repairs to be completed.

The vessel, weighing 400t and measuring 33m long, needed to be lifted until it was upright and then moved to rest on its keel. Several other companies had attempted the operation unsuccessfully.

The limited space at the dock meant using a large heavylift crane would have significantly impacted other operations at the shipyard. The solution also needed to be viable on the boathouse’s steep slope. ALE’s lengthy experience of providing bespoke alternative lifting solutions enabled them to work alongside the shipyard to devise an efficient solution and prepare for the project in only 15 days.

Two heavylift gantries were installed over the ship, each supported on two skid beams that were connected to strand jacks. Two lifting units were also connected to each gantry. As each of the lifting units could be operated separately, they provided a high degree of control and accuracy for the complex manoeuvres. This enabled ALE to precisely lift the ship into position. Once righted, the ship was skidded onto the beached bed to rest on its keel.

For this gantry lifting and heavylift skidding operation, ALE mobilised two A-frame heavylift gantries, four SLS2000 strand jack lifting units, eight skid beams and eight 150t capacity strand jacks.

The operation was part of a project to rescue the vessel, a fishing boat called ‘Lumian’, after it had fallen over in the shipyard while undergoing repairs. With the completion of these shipyard heavy lifting manoeuvres, the repairs could begin to be concluded.

Source ALE