ALE has performed the world’s heaviest commercial lift using a land based mobile crane, whilst executing an FPSO (Floating Production, Storage and Offloading) integration project in Brazil.

ALE used its AL.SK350 crane to lift the M9 module, weighing a total of over 3,000t, using its 4,000t winch system and high speed slew system. The crane was positioned at a radius of 86m and ALE completed the lifting operation ahead of schedule.

In addition to other heavy lifts of 2,073t and 2,089t, this was part of a four-month project where ALE was contracted to lift and install approximately 40 modules, weighing a total of over 36,000t, onto the P-74 FPSO vessel in the south of Brazil.

Michael Birch, Regional Director – UK & Projects, commented: “ALE is a dynamic and innovative business that is constantly pushing the boundaries. It’s not by luck that we have reached this milestone; we have a market-leading engineering and operations team, and it is testament to their hard work and skill that we have achieved a 3,000t lift in this environment.

“We are proud that our client has been able to benefit so much from this, with significant cost and schedule reduction as well as reduced man-hours, and we thank them for this bold step. It is fantastic for us to break another world first and it will be exciting to see what more the crane and the team will achieve in the future. This has definitely set the benchmark.”

ALE’s AL.SK350 crane was rigged in its current biggest configuration with 49m ballast radius and 4,000t ballast. The main boom is a 130m long A-frame design on a very stable 18m wide base. The crane is equipped with a 4,000t main winch system and 600t auxiliary quick winch system. For heavier loads up to 5,000t, a strand jack lifting system can be installed.

With its 354,000tm load moment capacity, it is the largest capacity crane in the market by a significant margin and it’s huge lifting capabilities enables clients to construct equipment for lifting weighing heavier than ever before. This delivers savings for our customers in the project schedule.

The project completed in January 2017.