Kraaijeveld Delivers Winches for Dockwise Vanguard (South Korea)

At the beginning of March, two special Kraaijeveld windlasses arrived in time in Korea. The winches are intended for the Dockwise Vanguard, a semi-submersible heavy vessel which is going to be built for the Dutch company Dockwise.

Kees Kraaijeveld, general manager at Machine- en Lierenfabriek C. Kraaijeveld in Sliedrecht, says: “In one way or another the winches nowadays are getting bigger, more customized and more complicated as well.  Due to our new assembly hall and the fact that we take care of the engineering- and manufacturing process in-house, we were able to offer short delivery times. A distinctive characteristic of the ship is the fact that the great loading deck stretches way down to the bow. As a result, little space is available for the winch. In addition to this, both the ship and the winches will be partly submerged in the water during loading and unloading. Due to the specific design, some parts of the winch are kept dry such as brakes and clutches to avoid contact with seawater.”

The dimensions of the winch: length 4.5 meters, width 4,5 meters and height: 4 meters. The winch weighs 90 tons and is suitable for a chain diameter of 157 mm, currently the largest chain size available.. In addition to the two winches, Kraaijeveld has also delivered the hydraulic drive and the chain stoppers. Both the ship and the winches had to be delivered in a very short period of time.

Expertise

Distinctive features of the Dockwise Vanguard, which Hyundai Heavy Industries in Korea is building, are the loading deck covering the entire length of the ship and the wheelhouse on the starboard side. A new category type-0 has been assigned to the ship, indicating that it is a completely new class of heavy lift vessels with a load capacity exceeding 110,000 tons.

“The fact that this special ship has been classified in this new category is something special to us. This year, we celebrate our 85th anniversary and we are proud to state that time and time again, new customers like Dockwise contact our company to perform special orders like this ship in which we are able to demonstrate our expertise. No standard solutions, but projects that require effort, in particular as a result of the increasing strict conditions of the inspection authorities“, says Kees Kraaijeveld.

Plenty of work

The winches for Dockwise were not even the largest in size up until now as this honor was reserved for the winch of the Zwerver III which was delivered to Kooijman Shipyard in Zwijndrecht earlier last year. Special feature about this dual anchor handling/towing winch is the integration of the crane foundation into the winch itself which saves a lot of deck space and reinforcements below decks. New orders include winches for marine contractor Van Oord and the Australian Riverwijs Marine, indicate that there is still sufficient demand for the Kraaijeveld winches.

“We have already delivered four of our special SafeWinches to the last company and have been ordered to deliver another two. The SafeWinch is designed for tugboats in order to work safe and spare tug towing wires. The SafeWinch was awarded with the Sea Trade Award and the Maritime Innovation Award. We have plenty of work but more requirements are made with regard to our improvisation abilities and creative calculations, because there is more competition. It keeps us focused“, says Kraaijeveld.

Machine- en Lierenfabriek C. Kraaijeveld has been active in the marine market and related sectors since 1927. From the second half of last century, the company has been focusing on the production of various types of winches. The company designs, develops and manufactures winches for internationally active customers such as dredging companies, shipyards and sea transport companies. They can all count on traditional dedication and innovative drive. In addition, Kraaijeveld also delivers accessories, custom-made machine parts and special products on request.

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Source: Kraaijeveld, March 9, 2012