Hansa Heavy Lift (HHL) has successfully transported two ship-to-shore (STS) cranes via the Northern Sea Route (NSR), relocating them from the port of St. Petersburg to the port of Vostochny, spanning both the European and Far East regions of Russia.
HHL Valparaiso travelled from Qingdao, China to St Petersburg, Russia via the NSR to load the cranes, and then went back through the NSR a second time to complete the mission. The vessel sailed open hatch through the Northern Sea Route (NSR), which allowed the two cranes, each weighing 820-tonne and measuring 61m in height and 92m in width, to be shipped partially above and below deck.
Crews had only a few weeks to complete the voyage, as the cargo was loaded in October and had to be delivered to its destination by late November before the route completely froze over. Other challenges included limited space aboard the HHL Valparaiso, which holds Ice Class E3 equivalent to Russian Arc.4 (Finnish- Swedish Ice Class 1A). Additionally, the cranes were not designed to be lifted, requiring careful planning from all parties involved in the move.
“Due to the STS’s very high center of gravity at 30m above deck and 70m air draft, as well as draft restriction of 7.7m, a careful and detailed plan was needed from the start,” said Heinrich Nagrelli, project and transport engineer, Hansa Heavy Lift. “This included a load spreading design and a structural analysis of the hatch covers and lower hold, a lifting stability assessment, a lifting simulation, fulfilment of Flag State requirements (open hatch, visibility, arctic weather conditions, COLREGs*), and the approval of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, as well as the arranging of ice breaker assistance.”
ZAO SMM, a manufacturer of heavy port handling equipment in Russia, was charterer of the HHL Valparaiso and in charge of overall project management as well as the transportation of the two STS cranes.