An incident involving the folding A-frame on the main crane on the heavy-lift vessel Alfa Lift occurred during the construction in China. Seaway 7 said it has been informed of the situation adding that “the unplanned movement of the folding A-frame is currently being investigated.”

Seaway 7 further added in its brief statement that the incident is a matter between the shipyard and crane vendor. The company noted in its response to Project Cargo Journal inquiry that no further information will be disclosed at the moment.

Seaway 7 has been formed through the combination of Subsea 7’s renewables business unit with OHT. The company only recently reached a milestone in the construction of the vessel with the installation of the 3,000-ton main crane provided by Liebherr.

Commenting to Project Cargo Journal, Liebherr spokesperson noted that the company engineers are on site and supporting the ongoing investigation that is looking into the exact circumstances and causes of the incident with the A-frame.

The aforementioned A-frame has been delivered to the China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) shipyard in Jiangsu, China earlier this year by BigLift’s heavy transport tandem, the BigLift Barentsz and BigLift Baffin. The delivery also included the main crane, the slewing column with auxiliary items and the 796 mt boom.

The Alfa Lift is designed and built for installing the next generation XXL offshore wind foundations. The vessel has been awarded the contract to install the wind turbine foundations for the world’s largest offshore wind farm Dogger Bank A & B, for which installation of the monopile cradles on deck has commenced.

Further, Alfa Lift will be the world’s first monohull vessel able to perform heavy lift crane operations with her main deck submerged in offshore conditions. While the delivery has been planned for early next year, the incident may have affected the schedule, however, Seaway 7 noted in its statement that it is too early to indicate if this actually is the case and whether it will have any impact on the delivery schedule of the vessel.

To remind, Liebherr’s heavy lift crane 150000-3000 has been selected for Alfa Lift. With a maximum lifting capacity of 3,000 tonnes at 30 metres and 1,000 tonnes at 76 metres outreach, the HLC 150000-3000 is ready for a wide range of applications and a key feature of OHT’s Alfa Lift. The foldable A-frame has been designed to reduce the overall height of the crane. It enables the vessel to navigate waters crossed by bridges.