Carried aboard the heavy lift vessel HAPPY BUCCANEER, the 45m high CSU was installed it at the Haramachi thermal electric power station. The CSU is a replacement for the power station that was severely damaged in the devastating Tsunami in March 2011.
The project was executed in close cooperation with the engineering department of BigLift’s Japanese client IHI Transport Machinery Co Ltd. The CSU was loaded and discharged by HAPPY BUCCANEER’s two 700t heavy lift mast cranes (1,400t in tandem), using two 24m BigLift lifting beams in the lifting arrangement.
Particular challenges in this project were the high deckloads, the lifting height and required outreach of ship’s cranes necessary for the installation of the CSU.
Due to the construction of the CSU, very large forces were expected on the supports of the bucket wheel boom and the Ballast arm. Therefore, a detailed load spreading plan was made to lead the forces into Happy Buccaneer’s high-strength upper deck.
During the voyage, the acceleration forces on the CSU were constantly monitored, using the OCTOPUS-On-board system, a state-of-the-art system that delivers real time vessel monitoring and supports the vessel’s route planning, speed optimisation, heading and fuel consumption.
During the installation, the CSU had to pass over the conveyor belt system on the berth. This operation required a lifting height of 40m above the wharf and a crane outreach of 14.15m from ship’s side.