Page 45: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 2000)

Ship Repair & Conversion

A Helping Hand In Stralsund

In Stralsund, an ocean-going giant takes to the water with the help of a record-breaking lift.

The Stralsund ship lift reportedly breaks all records, as nowhere in the world is there a lifting and lowering facility on a larger scale than this 754 x 115 ft. (230 m x 35 m) lift. Equally impressive is its power, which enables it to raise and lower a ship of up to 20,700 tons to a maximum of 36 ft. (11m) with- out difficulty, the Maersk Valencia in

December 1999, serving as an example.

The bow of the oceangoing giant peers out of the 36 ft. (75 m) high shipyard bay, its steel hull follows: the Maersk

Valencia, a 682 ft. (208 m) container- ship, edges slowly forward. On 432 wheels, a strange vehicle trundles along the rails like a steel centipede, at two meters a minute. It takes just three hours for the train to make its 280 m journey after which it stands on the largest ship lift in the world, waiting to be immersed. tons. Incidentally, the ocean giant's "taxi" consists of 54 bilge block bearers (steel girders), the chassis, 108 hydraulic motors and the HGV-size hydraulic supply unit. "As clumsy as it all looks", explained shipyard head

Detlef Grigo, "this co-operative project between the Norwegian Rexroth and

Hydraudyne S&E is the most modern transfer system in the world."

With this mass of metal it is amazing how silently the electric servomotors, 50 on the right and 50 on the left of the dock, work. (Continued on 82)

For more information about the story on IDAC West's unique monitoring system on page 44, contact Dave

Smith at: 380 S. Melrose Ave, # 347,

Vista, Calif. 92083, Tel: (760) 643- 4140; website: IDACWEST.com; e- mail: [email protected]

The men in the 20-person shift rou- tinely carry out the final tasks. Working with the ground crew, they make bow and stern fast starboard and port. The ship will be held vertical by four steel cables once it is afloat. And making sure that gets back into the water in two hour's time are the project leader and two employees of Hydraudyne Systems & Engineering (S&E), Rexroth's Dutch subsidiary. The company built the lift and is therefore responsible for the com- puter-controlled lowering.

To release the ship, the lift rises four centimeters to disengage the 204 twist- locks. A few minutes later it goes down at a speed of 15 cm a minute. This time there are 12,800 tons on the lift and the transfer system, which must be immersed using the power supplied by its 100 electric servomotors, weighs 900

October, 2000

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