Before/after magic at Manitowoc Dubai
Crawler crane refurbed after 21 years at sea
A Manitowoc crawler crane 4100W has been completely refurbished at EnCORE in Dubai, Manitowoc Crane Care’s remanufacturing service. The 230 tonne capacity crawler had spent 21 years working at sea, building off-shore oil and gas structures and off-shore sea defenses, for long-term owner and leading off-shore construction company, Valentine Marine.
The challenging ocean environment had naturally taken its toll on the crawler, built in 1993, and though it was still in good working order, Valentine Marine asked EnCORE to give the crane a second life.
“The crane was working well, but it was showing signs of corrosion due to the tough marine environment, and long working hours it’s been put through for two decades,” said Somasundaran Akkappilly, workshop manager at Manitowoc. “I am delighted with the result. We’ve renewed a 200 t piece of precision engineering and Valentine can look forward to another two decades of hard work on the high seas.”
The 4100W’s refurb was carried out at Manitowoc Crane Care’s facility in Jebel Ali, Dubai. Work began in October 2013 and started with a complete disassembly and inspection. All major components of the upper and lower frames and the entire cab were dismantled, before being individually reconditioned, reworked or rebuilt. Following its return to the customer, it is operating at 100% load chart capability.
As part of the extensive rebuild, the crawler was completely rewired and an entirely new cab was added, which the team had to build from scratch, as 1993-model crawler crane cabs are no longer manufactured. Corrosion on the chassis was neutralized and special marine-environment paint was applied to prepare the crane for its second life at sea.
The crane left the facility in March this year, to the satisfaction of the team who had worked on it.
“It is very satisfying to see one of our older cranes roll out of the workshop ready to give its owner a second term of productive service,” said Akkappilly. “It’s been a painstaking process, but I am pleased with the results, and we are looking forward to tackling our next challenge.”
The crane is currently at work on an offshore oil field off the coast of Abu Dhabi. Established in 1990, Valentine Marine specializes in offshore construction in the oil and gas industry. Its work centers on the Arabian Gulf and Indian subcontinent.
