MacGregor Testing New Fiber-rope Crane
MacGregor, part of Cargotec, has announced that it is now building one of the most advanced fiber-rope cranes on the market. The MacGregor FiberTrac crane will have a 150-metric-ton safe working load capacity and will be ready for testing during the first quarter of 2018.
"The greatest advantage of fiber rope when handling loads in ultra-deepwater is that it weighs virtually nothing in water," said Høye Høyesen, Vice President, Advanced Offshore Solutions at MacGregor "This neutral buoyancy means that, regardless of the length of rope paid out, the fiber rope does not add anything to the load experienced by the crane. Cranes can therefore retain their full payload lifting capacity all the way down to maximum depth. This is in complete contrast to using wire rope, where the ever increasing weight of wire paid out limits the load permissible in relation to depth.”
Høyesen added, “This is not just limited to payload, but also includes significant weight savings, rope lifespan and ease of maintenance, handling and logistics.”
The crane has been designed and will be built to comply with the latest DNV GL lifting appliance, fiber and rope manufacturing rules. MacGregor intends to provide the first system fully certified in compliance with DNVGL-ST-E407 (deployment and recovery system).
The crane will incorporate many unique technologies including the Parkburn Deep Water Capstan with storage winch capable of accommodating 4,000m of 88mm rope. It will use Lankhorst's Lankodeep fibre rope made from DSM Dyneema's DM20 XBO fiber with DNV 303 certification. The rope will be connected directly to the crane hook using a socketed termination from Applied Fiber.
The crane will also feature an advanced rope monitoring and management system that maximizes rope lifespan and provides clear lift line status information for the operator at all times. It will be controlled using MacGregor's latest control system with the added advantage of providing real-time data feedback to onshore locations using the MacGregor 'OnWatch' feature.
The fiber rope solution can also be retrofitted on existing cranes as well as stand-alone winch systems, and is available with both hydraulic and electric drive options
