Victoria and Alfred Waterfont Yard in Cape Town, South Africa, was the location for a complex lifting operation of a 650-ton barque, Europa. The sailing vessel, measuring 44.5 metres in length, recently slipped from its keep supports and rolled onto its starboard side during relaunching operations.

Lifting specialist, Vanguard was tagged to engineer and perform an up-righting operation to realign the vessel with the centre line of the track system. A crane lift was not possible, due to the restricted workable space surrounding the vessel, therefore Vanguard’s engineering team designed a bespoke lifting solution.

Bespoke gantry solution

The required bespoke solution comprised of two hydraulic gantry systems, which were positioned over the vessel and between the masts to minimise further impact to the masts and rigging. Once the 400-ton and 600-ton capacity systems were in place, header beams were positioned and four 186-ton capacity strand jacks were installed.

The strand jack system, which was rigged to keel brackets that had been custom fabricated for the operation, provided a high degree of accuracy and enabled the Vanguard team to lift and upright the vessel in a controlled and precise manner. Once the vertical lift had been completed, Vanguard completed a transverse skidding operation to realign the vessel with the track system.

“Vanguard were delighted to work for Resolve Marine and alongside Trinity Marine Architects on this unique project. The extensive planning and engineering work that was involved is evident in the precision of the execution,” commented Bryan Hodgkinson, Director at Vanguard. “It was a true team effort and the success of the project is testament to the knowledge and experience within the business.”