Liebherr in crane modernization project on Molikpaq platform off Russia

Switzerland-based Liebherr is carrying out a modernization project on Sakhalin Energy’s Molikpaq platform off the Russian island of Sakhalin.

Liebherr said that its maritime customer service was renewing two RL 1500 ram luffing offshore cranes. An existing crane, type BOS 1900 will be upgraded with the same generation control system as the RL 1500.

According to the company, several Liebherr firms are cooperating to implement the project. The contract drafting and signing was carried out by Liebherr-Russia OOO, Liebherr-MCCtec Rostock Gmbh is responsible for the operational refurbishment of the platform while Liebherr-Werk Biberach GmbH will participate in the conversion with a tower crane which is used as a support crane for lifting large components.

The company added that, since the start of the project in 2016, over 6,000 planning hours have already been invested in the project.

The replacement of the first crane with a brand-new Liebherr RL 1500 was executed from spring to autumn 2018.

In order to be able to move large parts on the platform, Liebherr installed a tower crane of the type 230 HC-L 8/16 Litronic to be used as a support crane. Also, a special sliding system was designed and built to move particularly heavy components and modules over the platform. The entire conversion project is planned to be completed by the end of 2020.

The modernization of the existing BOS 1900 was also completed while the third phase would include the installation of the second ram luffing crane until the end of 2019.

Both RL 1500 cranes have a cylinder luffing box boom design and a diesel-hydraulic driven main engine. Considering the project specifics, the cranes can handle loads up to 65 tonnes which is 25 tonnes more than the standard lifting capacity of Liebherr RL 1500.

Sakhalin Energy-operated Molikpaq is Russia’s first offshore oil production platform. Commercial oil production from the platform was launched in 1999. Since December 2008, oil from the platform streams through the trans-Sakhalin pipeline system to the oil export terminal of the Prigorodnoye production complex.