Vision 2012/1 - Rolls-Royce

LARGE LIFTING CAPABILITIES
Rolls-Royce now provides cranes for all types of offshore
vessels, including systems for operations in very deep water.
Over the past few years the company
has put great effort into developing
systems to improve safety on deck,
where the crew have to handle heavy
moorings and deck cargo at sea. Rail
cranes equipped with various
manipulators are an integral part of this,
enabling the crew to conduct
operations on any part of the working
deck by remote control from a safe
location.
With more offshore oil and gas activity
in very deep water, cranes with a large
lifting capability are needed, and
Rolls-Royce supplies units from 400
to 3,500 tonne capacity. The key feature
is the very effective active heave
compensation system, which prevents
the wave-induced motion of the vessel
influencing the precision of the load
handling and extends the operating
window to much tougher sea
conditions.
The deeper the water, the less effective
steel wire rope becomes, because its
own weight uses up a large part of its
available strength, leaving less for
lowering a useful load. The industry is
therefore turning to synthetic fibre rope,
whose weight in water is very low, and
whose load carrying capacity can be
fully exploited for subsea construction in
deep water. This type of rope needs
special handling equipment, so
Rolls-Royce has developed cable
traction control technology, including
the CTCU winch system. The technology
can be incorporated in the offshore
crane range, giving the ability to operate
in almost unlimited water depths.
VISION 1/12
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