23.04.2008

World's largest crane is christened

Yantai Raffles Shipyard, the largest builder of semi-submersible drilling rigs in China has ‘christened’ the world’s first fixed dual beam gantry crane, with a 20,000 tonne lifting capacity.. See: Revolutionary gantry crane

The new crane has been named, ‘Taisun’ after a sacred mountain in the China’s Shandong Province reflecting its size and strength.
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The Taisun, the worlds largest crane lifts a 20,133 tonne barge 30 metres above the water

The event was attended by over 600 guests from all over the world and commenced with a ribbon cutting session. Following the opening address by Brian Chang, chairman of Yantai Raffles, ‘Taisun’ demonstrated its strength by lifting a launching barge 30 metres above the water. The American Bureau of Shipping witnessed the lift and produced a “Witness Load Testing” certificate, confirming the capacity of ‘Taisun’ at 20,133 tonnes which Yantai Raffles claims is a heavy lift world record.

‘Taisun’ has been booked for at least nine lifts over the next 24 months and should revolutionise the way large offshore projects such as semi-submersibles and FPSOs are built. By providing a perfectly safe, uniquely controllable and highly cost effective way to join super sections of up to 20,000 tonnes.
The most significant impact will be to drastically cut the number of man hours spent working at height and should provide a major boost to productivity,