Germany: SAL Schiffahrtskontor Altes Land Puts MV Lone into Service

She perfectly resembles her sister, is just as strong and can be positioned to maximum precision: SAL Schiffahrtskontor Altes Land puts the new building MV ‘Lone’ into service. Just three months after the German-based heavy-lift shipping company has sent the MV ‘Svenja’ – the world’s largest heavy-lift vessel – on its maiden voyage, the company’s fleet has now been expanded by a second vessel of the same Type 183. Just like its sister vessel, the heavy lifter was built at Sietas shipyard in Hamburg in only 6 months. It has a lifting capacity of 2,000 tonnes and a speed of 20 knots. While the MV ‘Svenja’ features a Dynamic Positioning System 1 (DP1), the MV ‘Lone’ is equipped with a DP2. It is only the fourth heavy-lift vessel in the world to be equipped with this system. With DP2, its unrivalled speed and its high crane capacity, the MV ‘Lone’ is just as suited to service demanding offshore projects within the oil and gas industry as it is to assist in the installation of foundations for offshore wind parks. On March 11, the heavy-lift vessel will be christened at the Überseebrücke bridge in its home port of Hamburg before embarking on its maiden voyage the following day.

Future of heavy-lift vessels lies in specialization

On its maiden voyage, the MV ‘Lone’ will call the loading ports of Rostock, Aabenraa in southern Denmark and Uddevalla in Sweden, where it will load cranes and equipment (e.g. jack-up legs for offshore platforms) for the oil and gas industry with destination Korea. Subsequently, the new building will carry reactors weighing up to 1,800 tonnes from the Far East to South America. Over the past few months, the company has seen a considerable increase in project requests involving heavy loads.

At the naming ceremony of the heavy-lift vessel, Lars Rolner stated that the ‘Lone’ represents SAL’s future strategy: to specialize in vessels with a high crane capacity and a high degree of technological innovation. ‘With her and the Svenja, we now have two ships in our fleet that have a lifting capacity of 2,000 tonnes. Over the past few years, the number of heavy-lift vessels has grown, particularly those in the segment of 500- to 800-tonnes lifting capacity. The segment comprising vessels with a lifting capacity of over 1,000 tonnes is, however, less well served while the demand for these larger capacity vessels, particularly from the oil, gas and offshore industries, is growing constantly. SAL is in a strong position to meet this growth in demand.’

Furthermore, SAL Schiffahrtskontor Altes Land, which is one of the leading international heavy-lift shipping companies, has observed a recovery in the heavy-lift vessel market. Lars Rolner continues: ‘Apart from trading on a regular semi-liner service between Europe, Asia and Australia, a range of SAL vessels are currently involved in various long-term projects of up to four months. This development can be seen as a departure from the previous year and is an indicator of the strengthening economic upward trend across the globe. Countries such as China, Korea, Brazil and Australia, as well as North Africa, are amongst the important growth markets investing in industrial plants.’

MV ‘Lone’: DP2 for challenging oil, gas and offshore projects

With the DP2, the MV ‘Lone’ has all the necessary elements for undertaking highly complex projects for the oil and gas industry, as well as for the offshore sector. The DP2 system stands for the redundancy of all essential components that hold the vessel in a particular position during offshore operations. This redundant system guarantees the highest level of safety and precision at all times, particularly during offshore installations where staff is working on platforms and vessels. In addition to the redundancy of the system, which contains an additional bow thruster, for example, the MV ‘Lone’ also has two high-performing retractable Azimuth rudders.

Like its sister vessel MV ‘Svenja’ (with DP1), the second heavy lifter of Type 183 was constructed at Sietas shipyard in Hamburg. Both high-performance cranes have a lifting capacity of up to 2,000 tonnes and originate from the Neuenfelder Maschinenfabrik (NMF) in Hamburg, which is also part of the Sietas Group. They have an outreach of 38 metres. The ship’s diesel engine, with its 12,600 kilowatts and its capability of generating a speed of 20 knots, comes from the Augsburg-based MAN Group. In addition, MV ‘Lone’ can operate as an ‘open-top’/open hatch ship when transporting cargo of very large dimensions. Apart from its high performance, MV ‘Lone’ also possesses an Environmental Passport, which means it meets the highest environmental standards. It is also ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 HSE certified. The heavy lifter measures 160.5 metres in length and 27.5 metres in width, and has a loading capacity of 11,000 tonnes and 40,000 cubic metres (freight volume).

The order for the two heavy lifters is worth a total of 120 million euros, financed jointly by SAL, HSH Nordbank and the City of Hamburg.

From Hamburg to Korea: the maiden voyage of MV ‘Lone’

Just like the MV ‘Svenja’, the MV ‘Lone’ also sails under the German flag. Before it embarks on its maiden voyage, it will be christened at the Überseebrücke in its home port of Hamburg. In line with the tradition that all the company’s ships bear the name of one of the women in the company’s owners’ families, the vessel ‘Lone’ is named after Lone Esbensen from Denmark, the sister-in-law of SAL co-owner Lars Rolner. After the christening, Captain Lothar Rietzschel will take over the ship, which is scheduled to embark on its first voyage the following day to Korea. The 21-member crew on board is comprised of seven officers, four cadets and ten further crew members from Germany, Portugal and the Philippines.

Including the MV ‘Lone’, SAL Schiffahrtskontor Altes Land, which Japan’s ‘K’ Line Group has a 50 per cent stake in, now has a fleet of 16 ships. On average, SAL ships are in operation 360 days a year.

SAL Schiffahrtskontor Altes Land GmbH & Co. KG: company portrait

SAL Schiffahrtskontor Altes Land, a joint venture between owning families Heinrich and Rolner and Japan’s “K” Line Group, ranks among the world’s leading heavy lift shipping companies. Founded in 1980 but with roots that stretch back to a first ship delivery in 1865, the company is based at Steinkirchen in Germany. From its head office in the Altes Land area between Hamburg and Stade, SAL operates an international network of agencies and maintains its own offices in Japan, China, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States, Finland, Australia, France and Singapore. The company has a total of 570 employees across the world. It operates a fleet of 16 heavy lift ships, financed through its own means and through banks. The vessels’ management is fully handled in-house. SAL’s internal engineering department deals with all technical load-related matters, while developing innovative transportation solutions for individual customer needs.

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Source: sal, March 11, 2011