SAL HEAVY LIFT TYP 183

Guest post:

Christina Wagner

As announced, I would like to present the SAL heavy-lift carriers of type 183 here.

In 2010, the types 161 and 176 gave rise to the even more powerful ships of the type 183. In 2006, even before the delivery of the type 176 ships, SAL ordered two more ships from the Sietas shipyard, whose cranes were to set a new world record with a lifting capacity of 1,000 t each, coupled with 2,000 t. The constriction was based on the types 161 and 176, but was to be larger and receive only two cranes. The constriction was based on the types 161 and 176, but was to be larger and receive only two cranes.

On 20 December 2007, there was practically a double keel laying at the Sietas shipyard. The keels of the ships with the construction numbers 1279 (SVENJA) and 1280 (LONE) were laid at the same time.

The first ship to be delivered was the Svenja on 09 December 2010. The sister ship Lone followed on 11 March 2011. Both ships were equipped with the Dynamic Positioning System 1 (DP 1) on delivery. In contrast to the predecessor ships, the decision was made to use a closed bridge for the Type 183 ships.

In December 2011, SAL decided to upgrade the LONE to the more powerful DP 2. In the same year, the Lone arrived in Hamburg at the Norderwerft shipyard, which belonged to the Sietas shipyard at the time. Here, a 1,200 KW second bow thruster was installed. In addition, the ship received two extendable azimuth thrusters, each with an output of 1,200 kW. To cover the increased power requirements, the LONE was fitted with a nacelle on the stern with three auxiliary diesel engines and a generator, each with an output of 1,600 kW. The upgraded LONE left the Hamburg shipyard on 17 January 2012. The extensions reduced the deadweight tonnage from 12,975 tonnes to 12,500 tonnes. The free deckspace  was reduced from 3,427 m² to 3,332 m² due to the additional engine house.

Later, due to the increased personnel on board during offshore work, a second free-fall lifeboat was installed on the starboard side. Since a living module with its own lifeboats is now used for such operations, the free-fall boat has since been removed again.

One of the missions that attracted more public attention in 2013 was the SVENJA's assistance to the COSTA CONCORDIA, which was involved in an accident on 13 January 2012. On 01 November 2018, the SVENJA made headlines once again. While loading an 800 t monopipe, a foundation pile for offshore wind turbines, it slipped out of the slings and damaged the ship and quay. Fortunately, no one was injured in this accident.

In terms of basic design, the Type 183 vessels are a further development of the Type 176. At 160.50 m long, they are only 70 cm longer than their predecessors. In width, however, the new ships grew by 3.50 m to 27.50 m. The main engine was a type MAN 9L.  With a main engine type MAN 9L 58/64 producing 12,610 kW, the ships reach a speed of 20 knots.

Two cranes manufactured by Neufelder Maschienfabrik (NMF) with a lifting capacity of 1,000 t each are installed on the port side. The cranes with a diameter at the base of 7.80 m characterise the appearance of the ships. With a jib reach of up to 16 m, the cranes can lift 1,000t.  At 25 m it is still 800 t, at 38 m 500 t. Each crane has an auxiliary hoist with a lifting capacity of 60 or 10 t.

A new crane extension, a so-called fly-jip, has been introduced for the class 183 vessels. Especially for offshore work, the working length can be extended by 13 m, or even 23 m. The lifting capacity of a crane is then still 625 t or 500 t respectively.

With the delivery of the LONE, the construction of this remarkable series of fast heavy-lift vessels came to an end. It began in 1997 with the GLORIA, type 161, continued with the four ships of type 176 and after a total of 16 ships, and ended in 2011 with the class 183, which is still the third most powerful heavy-lift project carrier. For the Sietas shipyard, the delivery of the Type 183 was also to mark the end of an era. Caught up in the shipbuilding crisis, the shipyard had to file for insolvency in 2011. In 2014, it was taken over by the Russian Pella Shipyards. But in 2021, Pella Sietas Shipyards had to file for insolvency again. In 2022, the sell-off of the equipment of the formerly so successful shipyard began. This marks the end of another piece of German shipbuilding history.

Comparison of SVENJA and LONE data: