BigLift Shipping recently transported five mobile cranes for leading crane manufacturers Liebherr and Gottwald from Germany and Belgium to Nigeria, employing its heavy-lift vessel Happy Dragon.
Five mobile cranes were carried in one shipment, with one crane being placed on the tank top, thus necessitating sailing with an open hatch.
In Rostock, Germany, three Liebherr LHM 550 cranes were loaded in two pieces on April 10-14 with the jibs being stowed separately. These cranes measured 24.8 by 15.3 by 40.6 metres each, and weighed 295 tons. They were discharged in Apapa, Nigeria, on May 5-8.
Two GHMK 4406 Gottwald cranes measuring 48.4 by 13.5 by 30.1 metres each and weighing about 275 tons were loaded in Antwerp, Belgium, on April 16-19. These were discharged in Lagos, Nigeria on May 2-4. Both cranes were handled in one piece.
BigLift Shipping is one of the world’s leading heavy-lift shipping companies, specialized in worldwide ocean transportation of heavy-lift and project cargoes. BigLift’s fleet consists of 13 vessels with lifting capacities up to 1,400 tons each. In 2013, two newly built Happy S-type vessels are expected to join the fleet: these vessels will have a lifting capacity of 1,800 tons.