China's Honghua to produce giant shipyard gantry

Chinese drilling rig builder Honghua says it is building a movable gantry crane able to lift 22,000t modules and work on 10 rigs at once in a single basin.Honghua claims the 150m high crane, with a maximum lifting height of 65m, will be 11 times more powerful than anyother movable gantry crane.

The crane, to be known as the Honghai crane, is being built for Honghua by Wuhan Bridge Heavy Industries. It was launched at an event in Qidong City, Jiangsu provice, attended by the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum. A representative of the ministry, Ayman Mohamed Abdel Monsef, said, " The Honghua Group has again demonstrated that it is a leader in the oil drilling industry. The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum has cooperated with the Honghua Group on several occasions and will continue to do so."

Zhang Mi, chairman of Honghua Group, said, " With offshore engineering market growing tremendously around the world, innovative offshore drilling equipment will play a crucial role in harnessing and developing oceanic energy. In a technological and capital intensive industry, the Honghai Crane will revolutionize offshore drilling, and will set a new benchmark for offshore engineering building models."

Honghua says that the new crane could shorten construction times for semi-submersible vessels by up to three months.