Energy Cranes launches innovative rapid-erecting offshore rental crane
Jay Schempf, Special Correspondent
Energy Cranes Llc’s manufacturing division in Houston recently delivered the first of a new generation of purpose-designed ECR 1200-R fast-erecting offshore cranes to its rental division located at Abbeville, Louisiana. The move represents a $1.8-million investment.
The claim that the crane could be erected offshore from scratch by just four technicians in around 24 hours was immediately put to the test when the ECR 1200-R went directly from the factory to its first project on a Chevron production platform in South Marsh Island block 99 in the Gulf of Mexico. The team met the 24-hour target time. According to company officials, this was the first of four assignments booked into the crane’s backlog of orders even before it was built.
“The new ECR 1200-R was ideal for the application Chevron wanted,” says Energy Cranes vice president of operations, Blue Lege. “The crane has already completed the first lift of 37 tons, which was a gas scrubber to be lifted onto the platform from a barge. A larger lift-on of a 60-ton (54.4 metric-ton) gas compressor is due for delivery later in the month.”
Energy Cranes’ ECR 1200-R rental crane (right) on its distinctive blue skid assembly, dwarfs the permanently installed crane on Chevron’s SMI-99 platform.
The ECR 1200-R was needed because both lifts exceeded the capacity of the Houston Systems 484 crane, which is permanently installed on the platform.
Energy Cranes deploys modularized pedestal cranes from its fleets in the US Gulf, the North Sea, Middle East, and Far East, and is in the process of commissioning four more rental cranes for its Southeast Asia fleet. These rental units come complete with crews to effect rapid installation and commissioning, and ongoing crane operation through the rental period, regardless of contract length.
In-house partnership develops design
The ECR 1200-R is the result of a design partnership between the company’s rental and manufacturing divisions in the US and its UK-based offshore lifting and mechanical handling services group in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is a high-performance crane with a modular lattice boom building to lengths of 18.3, 24.4, 30.5, or 36.5 m (60, 80, 100, or 120 ft) and with an off-board (dynamic) lift capacity of 68 metric tons (75 tons) and static (on board) capacity of 90.7 metric tons (100 tons), say company officials. Despite this impressive payload capacity, they added, the heaviest individual component of the ECR 1200-R to be loaded onto the Chevron platform weighs less than 12.7 metric tons (14 tons.)
“These performance criteria make the ECR 1200-R ideally suited to compressor change-outs and to construction or modification projects such as installation of vessels or production skids,” says Wayne “Chomp” Champagne, Energy Cranes rental manager.
“This is the rental crane the industry has been asking for,” Champagne says. “The request was for a quickly built heavy lifter that came in small packages whose parts could be lifted onboard by existing onboard cranes or a lift boat. There simply isn’t another rental crane like the ECR 1200-R for operating in the Gulf, and the demand for this crane is reflected in the order backlog we already have for it.”
Dave Cockburn, Energy Cranes director of manufacturing, emphasizes that the crane is not a one-off. “We plan to build additional ECR 1200-Rs for our rental fleet,” Cockburn says, “but we also have client interest in the non-modular version, the EC 1200, for permanent installation on platforms and rigs.”
Energy Cranes’ manufacturing facilities in Houston grew through the merger of the former American Aero and Titan crane companies, strengthened by engineering expertise from Sparrows Offshore. Cranes ranging from 4.5-metric-ton (5-ton) capacity box boom models to 61 m/181.4 metric-ton (200-ft/200-ton) capacity units for deepwater service are designed and built in Houston to meet the latest API 2C specifications.
The company builds cranes for both the home and overseas markets, with recent export orders including cranes destined for North and West Africa and the Far East. Like other oilfield equipment manufacturers, Energy Cranes reported soaring sales in 2006, and the buoyant business environment is continuing through 2007.
$20 million boost in Brazil
Simultaneously with the launch of the ECR 1200-R, Energy Cranes International has announced the award by Petrobras of a new $20-million lifting services contract to the group’s subsidiary joint venture, SparrowsBSM Engenharia Ltda. of Macae, Brazil. The deal will employ 140 staff over the five-year period with options for a further five-year extension.
The contract will see SparrowsBSM take responsibility for the operation and maintenance of 15 cranes on six Petrobras platforms in the Campos Basin, together with the provision of all slinger/banksmen and handling crews for deck operations. This creates new positions for an engineer, 10 supervisors, 12 mechanical technicians, five electrical technicians, 28 crane operators, and 85 roustabouts.
Sparrows Offshore, a subsidiary of Energy Cranes International, established its joint venture with BSM Engenharia in 2002. The resulting company, SparrowsBSM, already has established contracts employing upwards of 200 lifting engineers and crane operator/technicians in Brazil.
“SparrowsBSM is now the established crane contractor of choice in the Brazilian offshore market,” says Leonardo Castro, the unit’s general manager. “As the Brazilian oilfield grows, so does our reputation for delivering safe and reliable lifting operations within closely managed budgets.”
Committed to growth
Speaking exclusively toOffshore, John Jordan, CEO of Energy Cranes International, says the group has more than tripled its annual sales since 2000 and is committed to continuing this growth.
“We have a high-integrity crane service business model which is well established in Europe and the US, but which has yet to be fully rolled out in several other areas of the global market,” Jordan says. “Also, we have product concepts, like the ECR 1200-R, which have the potential to revolutionize approaches to cranage offshore.”
Up and away. The ECR 1200-R’s gantry is lowered into position on the crane body.
Jordan also points to the group’s establishment of a new rig mechanization division with operations in the US and UK. This division is developing new product lines such as horizontal and vertical pipe handlers, BOP transporters, under-hull guidance systems, and derrick access units for the drilling sector.
“Energy Cranes is committed to growth both in our core markets and in new sectors of opportunity” Jordan says, hinting at a ‘war-chest’ of investment finance available to the group to fund product development or company acquisitions.
For more technical/commercial details on the ECR 1200-R and other Energy Cranes rental models, contact Blue Lege, vice president of US operations, at 713-896-0002, or Wayne Champagne, rentals manager, at 337-898-1357.
