Hapo International Barges is proud to announce that our PLM15000E Electric-hydraulic ringer crane is ready for operation both on land and on water!

It all started with the idea to install a Manitowoc ringer M4600 on one of our (then) newbuild 330 ft barges. It soon became clear that an ordinary land ringer crane when installed on a barge would have a seriously reduced load chart in comparison with the land chart. The reason is the larger side and off-lead loads which would occur when working on a dynamic floating barge.

Eager.one (formerly known as Eurorigging) was contracted to design a ringer crane which would have the capacities of a M4600, but then on water. A design was made with a tapered boomfoot and large boogie sets to withstand the larger sidelead loads. To guide those forces well into the barge Temporary Works Design designed a ringer foundation based on a recycled skidframe. The ringer foundation is designed in such a way that it can be elevated by hydraulic jacks to a height necessary to be able to drive SPMT units underneath the complete crane. This enables us to quickly and cost efficient mobilise and demobilise the crane to and from any barge with the right longitudinal bulkhead size.

Hapo was faced with several challenges during building, which unfortunately caused serious delays. This gave us the opportunity to rethink some of the decisions made earlier on in the design and build process. The most important redesign decision was to take out the original built in diesel engine and replace it with an electric motor. Of course, this decision came with significant additional costs, but the PLM15000E is futureproof now. When and where available we can hook the crane directly on to any 690V or 400V power supply. Whether this is the national grid (shore power or a battery pack), hydrogen powered fuel-cells or renewable fuel powered generators, we are flexible!

On 15 October 2021 a successful ro ro operation with the help of Sarens took place. The PLM15000E can now be operated from our barge H-332 which is outfitted with heavy duty safety railings and is ready to be put to work in any part of the world. The H-332 can be further outfitted to specific client needs with auxiliary (in house) equipment such as anchor or mooring winches. There is still a free working deck of approximately 2,000 m².

Main Characteristics

The crane can be built up with 4 different boom lengths: 55, 67, 79 and 91 meters. Each with its own characteristics. The maximum lifting capacity is 660 tons within the range up to 22 meters outreach. With the 91 meters boom installed the crane is still capable of lifting 100 tons at 77 meters.

Please contact us so we can discuss business opportunities!