In order to provide reliable solutions for subsea installation in increasingly deeper water and severe weather conditions, Huisman has developed a full range of Subsea Cranes. This range is based on the extensive experience gained with the deep water Offshore Mast Cranes, used in the same application.
Hybrid Boom Crane
Building on an extensive track record in delivery of heavy lift offshore cranes with deep and ultra-deep water subsea construction capabilities, Huisman has developed a novel, patented crane type: the Hybrid Boom Crane, previously known as the Rope Luffing Knuckle Boom Crane. This crane design maintains the advantage of the knuckle boom functionality, which is essential for offshore construction activities, without the disadvantages of conventional knuckle boom cranes, such as the heavy boom that affects the crane load curves and impacts ship stability. The design also provides advantages in workability.
The crane is designed to execute projects in deep and ultra-deep waters and is able to handle large and heavy loads in hostile environmental conditions. The Hybrid Boom Crane is the subsea crane of the future, enabling operations further offshore and enabling subsea installation of larger modules, both in a more efficient manner.
Real-time heave compensation increases the operational weather window for safe and accurate installation of subsea infrastructure components.
In 2015, Huisman’s Hydrid Boom Crane was awarded with the OSJ Innovation of the Year Award.
Knuckle Boom Crane
The Huisman Knuckle Boom Crane (KBC) design is suitable for various applications, including offshore construction work and subsea installation. It is designed to increase safety during deck handling, ship-to-ship transfer and subsea installation, using precise load control. Huisman has experience in designing and building KBC's up to 250mt lifting capacity and 2,500m water depth. In addition we are constantly exploring new and heavier means of application.
The crane is equipped with a unique in-house developed secondary controlled hydraulic drive system that works with a constant high pressure. This gives the system a much higher stiffness than conventional primary controlled systems. During hoist operations and heave compensation the response of the load is more accurate and much faster.
The system of the Huisman Knuckle Boom Crane operates with a constant power, keeping the speed of the hoist block constant over all layers of the winch. The torque and speed of the winch are controlled by adjusting the displacement of the hydraulic motors on the winch. Vessel motions for heave compensation are measured by motion reference units. This provides more accuracy than systems that use wave prediction. In addition, the crane can provide unrivaled hoisting speeds and thereby significantly reducing the time to lower loads to the seabed. The accurate and fast hoist system increases the operational weather window and maximizes safety during operations.
