In pictures: Heerema breaks heaviest crane lift at sea record

Heerema Marine Contractors’ Sleipnir safely installed TotalEnergies’ Tyra II superstructure on the last empty jacket in the Tyra field on 4 October.

The lifting of the 17,000-metric-ton working module broke the world record as the heaviest lifting of a crane ever done at sea.

Nothing was left to chance when the two crane operators, with the support of more than 260 crew on board the Sleipnir, lifted the equivalent of the weight of two Eiffel Towers.

The lift has been planned for years, and every step before, during, and after is detailed in a long manual of several hundred pages prepared by Heerema Marine Contractors and TotalEnergies.

After the rig arrived at the Tyra field on October 3, onshore crews rushed into action and began removing seawater from under the meter-long rig. 47.

Thanks to favorable weather conditions, crane operators received the green light to lift the module to its final location less than 24 hours after its arrival and four days ahead of schedule.

It required a lot of coordination, horsepower, and precision as Sleipnir’s crew had to install a large functional module.

With two large crane hooks, the team lifted the operational module from the heavy transport vessel GPO Emerald.

After that, they sailed one kilometer to the last empty jacket while raising the module nine meters to lower it to six feet.

In the coming weeks, the final pieces of Tyra II – the two bridges and the fire – will be installed.

The team has been preparing to raise this world record for years, and it was truly amazing to see how the organization reached its peak in just six hours when the largest ship in the world of crane Sleipnir helps us put a new functional module in the final stages,’ says Lars. Bo Christiansen, Deputy Project Manager of TotalEnergies EP Denmark A/S.

Michel Hendriks, COO for Heerema: ‘The safe and successful installation of the 17,000-metric-tonne TEG module is a milestone for Heerema and Sleipnir.

The record-breaking lift demonstrated the ship’s ability to place the largest structures at sea.

Also read: Equinor and bp select Heerema as supplier for US offshore wind projects

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