CASE STUDY
Grandweld Shipyards
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
TANDEM OPERATED OVERHEAD CRANES
Grandweld is a fully integrated shipyard providing shipbuilding, ship repair and engineering solutions to serve the offshore and marine industry around the world. Established in 1984, Grandweld has developed into one of the Middle East’s most established and versatile shipyards. The product range includes a wide variety of offshore support vessels, terminal and harbour vessels, workboats, security boats and aluminum vessels.
PLATE LIFTING AND ASSEMBLY
In 2011, Grandweld opened a new production facility in Dubai, Maritime City, comprising several docking berths and the capacity to build more than 30 vessels simultaneously. Part of the new facility was a covered ship-building yard, which required overhead cranes to assist in prefabrication and assembling of the vessels. During production, large steel plates have to be lifted to and from the cutting area. After the steel sheets are cut, bigger segments are created by welding the parts into ship blocks, which subsequently must be lifted and moved safely for assembly. This process operates daily in up to three shifts.
NEW CRANES AND TANDEM OPERATION
Konecranes installed several overhead cranes with lifting capacities of 5 tons to 25 tons throughout the shipyard. The lighter cranes are used for lifting unprocessed steel plates, while bigger capacity cranes are utilized to lift ship blocks and heavier segments. For loads of more than 25 tons, or for loads with long parts, two double-girder cranes can be used in tandem. With this connected configuration, loads of up to 50 tons can be lifted by both cranes together. Controlled by a radio remote, the cranes are synchronized in all movements, enabling safe operation of both cranes by a single user in a single bay.
A total number of twelve overhead cranes, equipped with safety features like anti-collision devices and load summation monitoring in tandem cranes, are an essential part of production process at Grandweld. Various lifting capacities and tandem crane operation help increase efficiency, while a service agreement supports safe and reliable operation of all cranes. Yazan Smadi, Manager Yard Services, says, “We are very happy and satisfied with the equipment supplied and appreciate the speedy response and service support provided by Konecranes.”
