Anchor achieved another first recently when they completed a 550t load test aboard the DLB Stingray in Cape Town harbour, their largest capacity test to date. Stingray is the first shallow water pipe lay barge in the Van Oord fleet of vessels. She has an overall length of 120mtr, a draught of 5mtr, with a 500t Liebherr main crane and is used to install pipelines from 6 to 60 inches in diameter.
“We were contacted by our client, Dormac Marine and Engineering to carry out the 5-yearly load test of the main crane, but had to put everything on hold as the vessel was on sea trials,” explains Tyrone Tilley, National Services Manager. “Then with 4 days notice we received the go ahead. Luckily we were able to draw upon our own stocks of water bags, load cells, shackles and slings to get this project completed without delay. When performing large projects, it’s critical that your planning is exact and caters for every eventuality,” continues Tilley. “With a large portion of the weight made up from just 4 x 100t bags we were able to simplify the design of the 3 tier system which was nearly 40mtr high, thus enabling us to complete the setup, load test and demob in just 3 days and well within the client’s expectations.” In addition Anchor also completed a 55t load test of the auxiliary hoist and a 50t calibration test.
anchor’s services team
Anchor made extensive use of Straightpoint’s wireless load cells and low headroom links for monitoring the load in each bag, thereby ensuring a balanced load on the crane. The Straightpoint wireless products offer an exceptionally high degree of accuracy and with a range of 700mtr the team were able to monitor the total load from a safe distance. The IP67 rating made these industry leading dynamometers even more suitable for use on this and other load testing jobs in harsh environments.
The equipment package consisted of:
- water bags – 4 x 100t, 4 x 40t, 1 x 30t, 3 x 20t
- load cells – 4 x 120t, 3 x 75t, 1 x 50t, 4 x 30t
- shackles and slings – various sizes
Anchor combines best practice with quality equipment and expert know-how to support your project at any given location.
