CRANES

Cranes: Deck cranes, Gemini Cranes,

Knuckle Boom crane, Single girder Gantry
crane. Rail mounted Gantry crane(RMG).
Single girder shipboard Gantry cranes. Side
Running trolley Operation of the Gantry
cranes. Safety feature of cranes & General
arrangement of Gantry crane Advantages
and Disadvantages of Derricks and cranes.
DECK CRANE
DECK CRANES
 A large number of ships are fitted with deck cranes.
 These require less time to prepare for working cargo than
derricks and have the advantage of being able to accurately
place (or spot) cargo in the hold.
 On container ships using ports without special container
handling facilities, cranes with special container handling gear
are essential.
 Deck-mounted cranes for both conventional cargo handling and
grabbing duties are available with lifting capacities of up to 50
MT.
 Ships specializing in carrying very heavy loads, however, are
invariably equipped with special derrick systems such as the
Stulken.
 These derrick systems are capable of lifting loads of up to 500
MT.
DECK CRANES
 Although crane motors may rely on pole-changing for speed
variation, electro-hydraulic controls are the most widely used.
 One of the reasons for this is that pole-change motors can only give
a range of discrete speeds, but additional factors favouring the two
alternative methods include less fierce power surges since the
electric drive motor in the hydraulic system, run continuously and
secondly the contactors required are far simpler and need less
maintenance since they are not continuously being exposed to the
high starting currents of pole-changing systems.
 Deck cranes are required to hoist, luff and slew, and separate
electric or hydraulic motors will be required for each motion.
 Most makes of crane incorporate a rope system to effect luffing and
this is commonly rove to give a level luff — in other words the cable
geometry is such that the load is not lifted or lowered by the action
of luffing the jib and the luffing motor need therefore only be rated
to lift the jib and not the load as well.
Fig 3. Rope lift cranes - resultant loads when hoisting.
 Generally, deck cranes of this type use the three-part reeving system for
the hoist rope and the luffing ropes are rove between the jib head and the
superstructure apex which gives them an approximately constant load,
irrespective of the jib radius.
 This load depends only on the weight of the jib, the resultant of loads in
the hoisting rope due to the load on the hook passes through the jib to the
jib foot pin (Figure 3 a).
 If the crane is inclined 5° in the forward direction due to heel of the ship
the level luffing geometry is disturbed and the hook load produces a
considerable moment on the jib which increases the pull on the luffing
rope (Figure 3 b).
 In the case of a 55 MT crane the pull under these conditions is
approximately doubled and the luffing ropes need to be over-proportioned
to meet the required factor of safety.
 If the inclination is in the inward direction and the jib is near minimum
radius, there is a danger that its weight moment will not be sufficient to
prevent it from luffing up under the action of the hoisting rope resultant.
 Swinging of the hook will produce similar effects to inclination of the crane.
 Most cranes can, if required, be fitted with a two-gear selection to give a
choice of a faster maximum hoisting speed on less than half load.
 For a 5 MT crane full load maximum hoisting speeds in the range 50-75
m/min are available with slewing speeds in the range 1—2 rev/min.
 For a 25 MT capacity crane, maximum full load hoisting speeds in the range
20—25 m/min are common with slewing speeds again in the range 1—2
rev/min.
 On half loads hoisting speeds increase by two to three times.
Drive mechanism and safety features
 In both electric and electro-hydraulic cranes it is usual to find that the
crane revolves on roller bearings.
 A toothed rack is formed on the periphery of the supporting seat and a
motor-driven pinion meshes with the rack to provide drive.
 Spring-loaded disc or band brakes are fitted on all the drive motors.
 These are arranged to fail safe in the event of a power or hydraulic failure.
 The brakes are also arranged to operate in conjunction with motor cut-outs
when the crane has reached its hoisting and luffing limits, or if slack turns
occur on the hoist barrel.
Rack and pinion gear for slewing on cranes
GEMINI CRANES:
Some cranes are mounted in pairs on a common platform which can be rotated
through 360 deg.
The cranes can be operated independently or locked together and operated as a
twin-jib crane of double capacity, usually to give capacities of up to 50 MT.
Knuckle boom crane:
Knuckle boom cranes can be found on vessels with a big deck area
and are also used on fixed platforms.
These are easy to maintain due to the fact that they have lesser
joints.
Stiff boom crane:
These are designed for general cargo handling and can
be used on ships as well as  offshore units.
Telescopic boom crane:
Telescopic boom cranes can be hydraulic extended and
retracted without a knuckle function.
Foldable telescopic boom crane:
These cranes are designed to ensure constant torque moment,
reducing the ‘pendulum effect’ of the load.
They require minimum deck space.
Single girder shipboard Gantry cranes: used in engine
rooms as overhead cranes
TANDEM LIFT:
 Vessel carrying out tandem lift using 2 cranes.
 The cargo is the divider between the cranes in the fig below.
 In case cargo lifting points are closer the cranes would be connected using
spreader to keep minimum distance between head of cranes and the cargo
would be hooked to the spreader beam.
GANTRY CRANES (SHIPBOARD)
 Gantry cranes are extensively found shore-side in the ‘container
terminals’ and these will be described in a later chapter.
 use of gantries aboard ships has reduced dramatically on new tonnage
because of the extensive facilities found at the terminal ports.
 Where gantry rigs do operate, they tend to be ‘Tracked Gantry Rigs’
which tend to travel the length of the cargo deck in order to service
each cargo hold.
 They also use the rig for moving the hatch covers which are usually
‘pontoon covers’ that can be lifted and moved to suit the working plan
of the vessel when in port.
 The gantry structure tends to be a dominant feature and is subject to
extensive maintenance attention.
 However, some small cargo coaster type vessels also use a specific
mobile gantry for the sole purpose of lifting off and moving the hatch
covers
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ewCsgij8q0
• Some shipboard gantry cranes are designed solely to remove and
stow pontoon hatch covers while others are suitably employed
with outreach capability for working containers to the quayside as
well as having the flexibility to remove pontoon covers.
 HINGE
CRANE
BOOM

VERTICAL
FRAME
AND
BRACES:
 CRANE BOOM OPERATING CABIN

HINGE
HOOK

LATERAL SYSTEM

VERTICAL FRAME AND BRACES

GANTRY CRANE ELEMENTS:
LATERAL MOVEMENT SYSTEM:
 A combination of two sets of typically ten (10) rail wheels.
 The lateral movement is controlled by a cabin along the landside wheel.
 During any lateral movement, lights and sirens operate to ensure safety of the
crew operating adjacent to the crane.
 The wheels are mounted to the bottom of the vertical frame/bracing system.
VERTICAL FRAME AND BRACES:
 A structurally designed system of beams assembled to support the boom,
cabin, operating machinery, and the cargo being lifted.
 They display signage describing restrictions, requirements and identifiers.
CRANE BOOM:
 A horizontal beam that runs transversely to the berth.
 It spans from landside of the landside rail wheels to a length over the edge of
the berth.
 The waterside span is based on the size of ship that it can successfully
load/unload.
 Beams also have the ability to be raised for storage purposes.
GANTRY CRANE ELEMENTS:
HOOK:
 Device which moves vertically to raise and lower cargo as well as horizontally along
the boom's length.
 For container cranes, a spreader is attached to span the container and lock it safely
in place during movement.
OPERATING CABIN:
 Encased setup with glass paneled flooring for operator to view the cargo being
moved.
 Elevators which are located along vertical frame members are used to get crew up
and down from the cabin.
STORAGE EQUIPMENT:
 For temporary storage options between vessel operations, one steel pin is inserted
into anchorage arm dropped from each wheel set into a stow pin assembly.
 This setup is designed to prevent lateral movement along the rails. During
hurricanes and other emergency shut down situations, tie down assemblies are
used.
 Two (2) angled arms are anchored at each end of each set of wheels.
 This setup prevents longitudinal movement along the rails as well as prevents
tipping of the crane due to uplift from high velocity winds.
CRANE ADVANTAGE OVER DERRICKS
• Simple operation.
•Single-man operation, derricks are more labour
intensive.
•Clear deck operational views.
•Clear deck space of rigging.
•Versatility with heavy loads, and not required to de-
rig.
•360° slew and working arc when compared with
limited operating areas for derricks.
•Able to plumb any point quickly making a faster load/
discharge operation.
CRANE ADVANTAGE OVER DERRICKS

 Enclosed cabin for operator, where as the majority of derrick operators

are exposed, offering greater operator protection and comfort.
 Cranes are acceptably safer to operate because of their simplicity, where
derrick rigs can be overly complicated in rigging and operation.
 Cranes can easily service two hatches, or twin hatches in the fore and aft
direction because of their 360° slew ability.
 Derrick rigs are usually designed to service a specific space.

Note: There are exceptions though. Some derrick designs with double-
acting floating head rigs can work opposing hatches.
CRANE DISADVANTAGE OVER DERRICKS
Comparatively high installation cost
Increased deck space required, especially for ‘gantry’
type cranes.
Design is more complex, leaving more to go wrong.
Specialist maintenance required.
Hydraulics and electrics.
The SWL of cranes is generally less than that of
specialist derrick rigs.