
SAL Heavy lift completes a heavy contract with SDV, Asia for the Ichthy's LNG project
SAL Heavy Lift GmbH, the leading Heavy Lift operator, has successfully completed a series of complex and sensitive shipments totalling more than 100,000frtts for the Ichthys LNG Project near Darwin, NT.
SAL Heavy Lift was contracted by the Project's freight forwarder SDV, Asia for five shipments performed on a consecutive basis from loadports Sattahip, Masan, Busan and Shanghai.
Each of the shipments contained individual items that tested both SAL's engineering strength and the capabilities of the vessel.
SAL's type 176 MV REGINE with 2 x 700ts cranes (1,400ts lift cap in tandem), and open hatch capability together with a third aft mount crane of 350ts lift cap was selected as the ideal candidate to provide utmost flexibility, cost efficiency and safety to the project.
Among the items shipped were 2 x Acid Gas Removal units each more than 800ts (each 42 x 10.5 x 10.8mtrs) and 2 x Radiant Convertor Modules both more than 25mtrs high (each 10.5 x 10 x 25mtrs/217ts).

In particular the Radiant Convertor Modules offered a significant challenge since the client required them to be lifted with a single crane in the same shipment. Matters of lifting height, rigging geometry and clearances became a complex problem which took some time to successfully resolve.
All shipments were discharged at the Project's Module Offloading Facility (MOF). SAL Heavy Lift Singapore managed the project committing specialised project managers and technicians locally to support the project in real time.
"SDV has found that SAL's pro-active approach and extremely competent crew has ensured all this important equipment has been delivered incident free and on a tight schedule," noted Eric Mancini, SDV's Project Manager. "SAL was commercially and operationally flexible in its approach to serving both SDV and the Project."
SAL Heavy Lift Singapore's Managing Director, Justin Archard added, "The working relationship between SDV Asia and its team of well-trained industry professionals together with SAL Heavy Lift's client focused organisational approach has been extremely complimentary. We have achieved everything we set out to achieve in this project. We are proud to have partnered SDV Asia in this work scope and will reinvest the knowledge we have gained in the last 6 months back into the SAL organisation to continue to improve the quality of our service."
SAL Heavy Lift, a member of the "K" Line Group, is one of the world's leading carriers specialised in sea transport of heavy lift and project cargo. Our modern fleet of 16 heavy lift vessels lets us offer our customers highly flexible options. Our vessels boast an impressive travel speed of 20 knots, up to 3,500m² of unobstructed main deck space and combined crane capacities ranging from 600 to 2,000 megatons: the world's highest lifting capacity in the heavy lift sector.
SAL Heavy Lift's wholly owned subsidiary SAL Offshore B.V. offers DP installation solutions to clients in the oil & gas and renewables sectors. With the MV Lone as DP Class 2 vessel and MV Svenja as DP Class 1, SAL Offshore has a strong offering to the market.
Our in-house engineering department develops customised solutions for all transport needs and thoroughly supervises all projects from the planning stages to successful completion, while working hand in hand with our highly skilled crews. SAL Heavy Lift upholds the highest standards in respect of HSEQ: all vessels are certified as conforming to ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 and have Environmental Passports confirming this compliance.
SAL's history can be traced back as far as 1865, when its first sailing vessel - S.S. "Amoenitas" - was delivered to the Heinrich family by the German Sietas shipyard. Over the next 150 years, five generations of the Heinrich family continued their involvement in shipping.
SAL Heavy Lift's main office is located in Hamburg and a network of agents and offices ensures efficient local cargo handling around the world.
This article was originally published on Marine & Industrial Report newspaper Vol 37 No.1 Issue last February 28,2015.