Ultra heavy lifts with Lankhorst polymer slings

The Allseas Pioneering Spirit’s lifting system using ultra-heavy lift slings from Lankhorst Ropes for offshore installation and decommissioning projects. Photo: Jelco Stouthandel Photography

Dutch rope maker Lankhorst supplied high capacity synthetic fibre slings to be used by Allseas on its jacket lifting system.

The Lankhorst Gama98 slings were used on Allseas’ super heavy lift and transport vessel Pioneering Spirit in the transportation and lowering of an offshore industry jacket weighing 7,300 tonnes. The jacket was for a converter platform part of the German BorWin 5 offshore project.

The transport part of the project saw the slings carry the load on the vessel for two days during the journey by sea to the installation site.

They are an integral part of the giant twin-hulled ship’s Jacket Lifting System. In addition to installation work, decommissioning projects also use the slings. It is a set of eight 25 metre endless slings made using Gama98 Ultra Heavy Lift rope that is typically used for mooring the largest vessels.

These were manufactured in Portugal to a length tolerance of +/- 1.5 per cent. On Pioneering Spirit the jacket lift system has six blocks to guide the slings and each carries two endless sling constructions. Before this BorWin 5 project the slings were proofed to marine operations standard DNV-ST-N001 for offshore installation and decommissioning.

Lankhorst Gama98 slings holding the 7,300 tonne convertor platform for the German offshore project BorWin 5. Photo: Jelco Stouthandel Photography

Use them again

After the BorWin 5 offshore wind energy project, the Lankhorst slings will be used on Pioneering Spirit for other jacket installation and decommissioning projects. They are not single-use slings. For ten years Lankhorst’s research and development team has helped build industry confidence in reusing heavy lift slings.

“Today we have a proven fatigue performance model for the assessment of a sling’s lifetime together with the development of safe and reliable engineered lifting plans,” explained Marcel van der Molen, Lankhorst Ropes sales director.

“Lankhorst’s ability to manufacture slings to a consistent and repeatable length accuracy has been fundamental to establishing confidence in our fatigue performance modelling.”