“Although MacGregor’s standard active heave-compensation, supplied through a crane’s winch, compensates for a vessel’s vertical movements, the 3DMC is a fantastic new option when very accurate load positioning is required, such as landing loads on small fixed platforms,” said Alexander Nürnberg, MacGregor’s SVP, technology and R&D.

The 3DMC can be fitted or retrofitted to the knuckle jib of a broad spectrum of new or existing MacGregor subsea/offshore cranes. It compensates for the roll, pitch and heave motions  of the vessel, to minimise any movement of the  load in relation to a fixed point in space.

During operations that require a higher degree of precision than that available from the standard crane, such as transferring equipment to or from offshore wind turbine structures or any fixed platform, the operator can opt to use the 3DMC. 

The 3DMC has been designed for easy installation, and makes use of the existing hydraulic power unit and control system of the crane. The 3DMC/crane interface is designed so that the unit can be swiftly mobilised to a crane with the relevant fittings. This allows flexibility within a fleet of vessels that can share one or several 3DMCs between them. 

The 3DMC is fully incorporated into the crane’s control system, so that all operations are performed from the existing interfaces in the crane cabin. When not required, the 3DMC simply remains fixed to the side of the crane’s knuckle jib allowing normal lifting operations using the main and whip winches. 

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This complete item is approximately 300 words in length, and appeared in the December 2016 issue of WorldCargo News, on page 4. To access this issue download the PDF here.