published Mon, February 20, 2012
MacGregor system from Cargotec wins prestigious offshore industry innovation award
Cargotec's MacGregor Chain Wheel Manipulator has won Offshore Support Journal's Innovation of the Year award.
The award was announced at the Annual Offshore Support Journal
Conference in London on 15 February, and presented to Cargotec's
sales team for Advanced Load Handling in front of an audience of
over 400 people at the conference gala dinner.
The Offshore Support Journal innovation
award recognises a product, system or service which is considered
to have made a significant impact on the design, build and/or
operational aspects of offshore support vessels in service during
the previous calendar year. "We are delighted to have won such a
prestigious award, particularly in the face of strong competition
from a shortlist representing the best in innovative design from
across the industry," said Frode Grovan, Director, Sales and
Marketing, Advanced Load Handling.
The MacGregor Chain Wheel Manipulator enables an anchor handler
to safely change chain wheels at sea; an operation which previously
usually meant returning to port
Anchor-handling tug/supply vessels
(AHTS) must be able to handle the variety of chain sizes employed
in subsea mooring operations, and so they carry a range of
interchangeable chain wheels which can weigh up to 12 tonnes.
Cargotec developed the MacGregor Chain Wheel Manipulator in
response to an approach from STX. The shipbuilder
required a solution
for five STX OSV design AHTS
vessels under construction for DOF by STX Norway Offshore's
subsidiary STX Offshore Brazil. These vessels are intended for
operations some distance off the Brazilian coast under long-term
contracts from Petrobras, which specified that it should be
possible to change chain wheels at sea.
"Changing a chain wheel was previously
complicated and labour intensive, and any movement of the vessel
caused by wind or waves made it unacceptably hazardous, forcing a
vessel to return to port and change the wheel alongside," said Mr
Grovan."The trend offshore is to introduce remote-controlled
devices that keep crew members clear of potentially hazardous
operations while also improving a vessel's profitability.
Cargotec developed the Chain Wheel Manipulator to meet both of
these objectives. It is designed in accordance with Det Norske
Veritas's rules for certification of lifting appliances, and can
accommodate chain wheels of various sizes, covering all
anchor-handling demands likely to be made of any AHTS".
The first installation of Cargotec's MacGregor
Chain Wheel Manipulator was for DOF's 95m anchor-handling
tug/supply vessel (AHTS) Skandi Amazonas, which also features a
MacGregor offshore crane.
Date: 20/02/2012