China Railway Construction's 5,000-tonne crane vessel heads to West Africa for FPSO project

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 12, the "CRCC Crane 5000," a large crane vessel invested in and built by CRCC Harbour & Channel Engineering Bureau, officially set sail from Zhuhai Gaolan International Container Terminal after completing the transfer, securing and lashing, and inspection of modules related to a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit, heading to waters off West Africa to carry out FPSO engineering construction tasks. This is the vessel's first transoceanic long-distance engineering operation and an important milestone in its entry into the overseas deep and distant offshore oil and gas engineering construction market.

The "CRCC Crane 5000" is a 5,000-tonne-class self-propelled fully revolving large crane vessel independently built by China. It has unlimited navigation area sailing and operation capabilities, is equipped with a DP-2 dynamic positioning system, has a maximum main hoist lifting capacity of 5,000 tonnes, a main deck cargo storage area of approximately 6,000 square meters, and can accommodate 150 people. The vessel integrates functions such as large component lifting, offshore transportation, and offshore installation, and can be used for the construction of FPSO modules, topsides of offshore oil and gas platforms, and other large marine engineering facilities.

This ocean-going operation departs from Zhuhai Gaolan Port, with a voyage of more than 10,000 nautical miles. The route will pass through the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, round the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, and then enter the Atlantic Ocean, finally arriving at the construction waters off West Africa. The long-distance transoceanic deployment places high demands on the power system, positioning system, navigation reliability, and comprehensive offshore support capabilities of a large crane vessel.

Before this voyage, the "CRCC Crane 5000" had participated in multiple offshore oil and gas engineering projects in China's coastal waters, including the lifting of specialized FPSO equipment, the lifting of an approximately 3,800-tonne topside for the Weizhou 6-13 oilfield, and offshore engineering operations in the East China Sea, Ledong, Dongfang, and other oil and gas fields, accumulating experience in the transportation, lifting, and installation of large marine engineering components.

In May this year, the vessel completed ship registration transfer and was registered at the Hengqin International Ship Registration Port, becoming the first ultra-large crane vessel at that registration port. This mission to West Africa for the FPSO project means that domestically produced large marine engineering crane equipment is further moving from domestic coastal oil and gas engineering into international deep and distant offshore construction scenarios, and will subsequently directly test its engineering capabilities in long-distance deployment, large module lifting, and offshore installation operations under complex sea conditions.